Addiction
by Marisa
Summary: When Cloud meets Tessa, a whirlwind romance develops between them. But will the ghosts of his past prevent the happiness in his future? Cloud x OC
1. Prologue

**Story Summary** – When Cloud meets Tessa, a whirlwind romance develops between them. But will the ghosts of his past prevent the happiness in his future? (Cloud x OC)

**Disclaimer** – Cloud Strife and other characters and locations from _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Advent_ _Children_ are the property of Square-Enix. I own nothing but Tessa and her family.

**WARNINGS:  
**1) Based on certain criteria, Tessa could be considered a "medium" Mary-Sue  
2) mushy, sappy romance…a little angsty  
3) explicit and graphic sexual content  
4) some graphic language  
**  
Author's Note** – I've received a ton of PMs from people asking that I post this story on this site, so I guess I will. For those of you that don't know the background of the _Final Fantasy VII_ game and movie, it doesn't take place on Earth, so the locations mentioned in the story won't be familiar. I'm not going to go into long dialogue and descriptive dissertations in this story on the events that previously occurred unless it fits in the current situation. Otherwise I'll try and explain things in Author Notes at the beginning of certain chapters. If you're curious about anything that needs further explanation, you can always pose your question in a review or a PM to me.

* * *

**ADDICTION  
****By Marisa**

**Chapter 1 – Prologue**

It didn't take me long to realize that I fell in love with Cloud from the first moment I saw him on his Fenrir at the stoplight. There weren't many guys in our recuperating world that intrigued me enough to deserve extra thought just from the way they looked. Maybe I was superficial and shallow when it came to those things. That and a lack of trust in men…thanks to a certain member of my family…it made up the reasons I never had many boyfriends, and didn't really care to anyway.

But there was something about Cloud that hooked me…the intensity of his aqua-colored eyes…the freakish way his blonde hair defied gravity…the soft timber of his voice when he was reflecting…

Cloud Strife…an enigma, shrouded in conflict from an entangled, obscure past…I learned a little more about him with each passing day. His past was based on falsehoods and consisted of such overwhelming violent tragedies that he desperately craved anything resembling a normal life. He yearned for the affection he lacked in his childhood and it was the main reason he was drawn to me from the beginning. According to him, I was the epitome of a normal life and once he discovered the warm connection between us, he refused to let it go.

But in our wounded and troubled world, there was never any guarantee that life would be a bed of roses. And our fragile relationship was put to countless tests…just when we thought things were going our way.

* * *

Thursday, August 1

When I finished grocery shopping, I headed home in my supercharged muscle car, a gift from Dad because he worried I'd be accosted by Shadow Creepers again. Shadow Creepers and I didn't get along and the fast car was so I could outrun them. So far I hadn't heard of any Shadow Creeper attacks...not since peace had returned to the eastern continent. Maybe they were gone for good.

The light up ahead turned yellow and I slowed down to a stop just at it turned red. My stereo blasted the beginning of a popular tune and with my windows rolled down, I crooned along to the lyrics.

Someone pulled up on my left, astride a monstrous black and bronze vehicle. A second glance told me it was some kind of beefed-up motorcycle. The rider was dressed entirely in black, his muscled arms bare. What immediately caught my eye was his severely chopped and spiked blonde hair. The cut wasn't an uncommon thing in this day and age, but it just drew my attention.

I continued to nonchalantly sing along as my eyes studied him from his head to his thick-booted toe. Not too bad for a biker. He looked a little young to own such an expensive piece of machinery…maybe early to mid twenties. But then again, I was that age and I couldn't afford my vehicle without Daddy's help.

He turned his head to the right and seemed to be checking out my car before pausing at my window to stare at me through his dark-tinted goggles.

I wanted to tell him to take a picture because he was staring so long. He was probably thinking the same thing about me staring at him. So I rolled my eyes and looked away first.

The red light was certainly taking its sweet time. How ironic that there was absolutely no traffic on the streets to speak of during these difficult times, with people trying to get back on their feet after so many years of violence…No one on the streets…just me and motorcycle man...yet the traffic lights still functioned as if there were a thousand cars roaming the city.

His engine revved loudly. Not wanting to be outdone, I kept my left foot on the clutch and revved the accelerator. When I turned back to him, he had a hint of a smile on his face.

He did something to the handle bar and the engine revved even louder. Then he bounced forward a couple of times, clearly indicating he wanted to race.

I suppressed a smile and shook my head, but he gave me a challenging look I couldn't ignore. So I revved the engine again and made sure I was in first gear. From the corner of my eye I saw the light finally turn green. As I released the clutch, I buried the accelerator down to the floor. The tires squealed and burned rubber as my car shot forward with a roar. But so did the motorcycle.

We were racing side by side for several blocks, exceeding the posted speed limit of 55 by at least 40. Somehow or another I felt he was toying with me. He accelerated ahead. I tried to pass him, but he moved his bike right in front of me. Then every time I moved over to pass him, he'd immediately swerve in my way.

Now I was pissed. I honked my horn and flashed my lights and he looked back over his shoulder at me, apparently amused by my anger. Finally he stayed in one lane and let me pull up next to him.

"You're cheating!" I yelled out the window to be heard over the roar of our engines.

He raised his goggles and rested them on his forehead before turning a pair of gorgeous, aqua-colored eyes on me. "You can't beat me!" he yelled back.

Those eyes distracted me from whatever foul curse had planned to escape my lips. I actually felt my heart stop for several seconds…and it felt like a lifetime. Good God…where did this guy come from?

He gave me a wink before putting his goggles back over his eyes and leaning further down on his bike. In the next instant he was gone. And I mean he was like a speck on my windshield. I braked and pulled over to the side of the road, staring ahead with my mouth open. What the hell did he have in his engine…rocket fuel?

It felt like I had just encountered a ghost. He didn't exist in real life. Just a figment of my overactive, sexually deprived imagination.

Or so I thought…


	2. Tough Guy

_Disclaimer – Square-Enix owns it all!_

_A/N – This chapter contains a bit of history, but as I mentioned before, its going to be brief. I don't want to clog up the story with too much history in the beginning because things are further explained in later chapters, especially things that relate to current circumstances._

_If anyone is interested in learning more about Cloud, visit a site called strife . com (without the spaces). Aside from all the great details about each of the Final Fantasy characters, especially Cloud, there's also an archive of fan-art and screen shots from the games and the movie. Check it out. You won't be disappointed._

_Now on with the story…_

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Tough Guy**

Saturday, August 3

"Please, Tessa, you have to come with me," begged Tammy. "Kyle's working all day and I hate driving alone outside the city."

"You know how much I hate family parties," I argued. "Why do you think I moved to Edge in the first place?" Mom had a tendency to throw a party for every little thing. One time when I broke my arm falling off the back of a Chocobo, Mom had a party. It would have been fine if I liked my relatives and extended family members. But the truth was I didn't. I couldn't stand any of them…except my cousin, Tammy.

"It'll be fun, I swear. Cid's got this amazing airship."

Ever since I moved in with Tammy two weeks ago in her apartment in the growing city of Edge, all I had heard was Cid and Barret this, Vincent and Tifa that. These were people she had become friends with over the last four months since she moved there. Apparently she became friends with Tifa who owned a bar called Seventh Heaven and some of her friends soon became Tammy's friends. She also met her boyfriend, Kyle at the bar and they had been inseparable since then.

"Do I get to fly in it?" I asked.

"Oh I'm sure that can be arranged."

I exaggerated a sigh, like I was being forced to do something totally against my religion. "Fine, I'll go."

"Whoohoo! Go change."

"What's wrong with what I have on?"

"First of all, it's 90 degrees outside which is too hot for sweats and second of all, put on a swimsuit because they have a pool."

I dug in my drawer for a bikini. Over that I threw on a white tank top and jean shorts that rode low on my hips. Maybe there was someone at the party that would catch my eye. And then again, maybe they were all a bunch of old farts.

The things I did for my favorite cousin.

* * *

Tammy drove us out of Edge and into a heavily wooded suburb along the outskirts of the city. As we pulled into a long driveway, out in the distance I could see what looked like a morphed helicopter of some kind. Very cool. I definitely wanted a ride in that thing sometime soon. 

We parked and went around to the back of the house where all the noise was coming from. And there they all were. At least thirty people…mostly adults and a few children. To my dismay Tammy introduced me to every last one of them.

"This is Tifa and Reno."

"Nice to meet you, Tessa," said Tifa, a beautiful dark-haired girl with a genuinely nice smile. She glowered at Tammy. "Why haven't you brought her to the bar yet?"

"Yeah, not a classy enough joint for ya?" Reno quipped, an arm around Tifa's shoulder. It was hard not to notice the red half-moon tattoos on his upper cheeks. They matched the bright red color of his hair. But I thought he was pretty cute, regardless. And of course, he was taken. By Tifa, from the looks of it.

"I promise we'll come by," replied Tammy.

"Where's Kyle?" asked Reno.

"He has to work all day."

"That really bites."

"Tell me about it." Tammy glanced around, apparently looking for someone. "Is Cloud coming?"

"You know Cloud," Tifa drawled out. "Fashionably late as usual."

As we walked away a few minutes later, I leaned toward Tammy. "You actually know someone named Cloud? Like the fluffy things in the sky?"

"Believe it or not, when you see him you'll think the name actually fits."

"So who is he?"

"A friend of ours. Cute, sensitive, a real bad boy. You'd like him," she quickly added. Then she gave me a once over with a smile. "And he'll dig you. You're totally his type."

"What's that supposed to mean? What type am I?"

"Petite, dark blonde hair, green eyes…all legs. Yeah, he'll flip when he sees you."

My interest was peaked. Yeah, I liked bad boys…but so far I had yet to run into one that held my interest beyond their initial hello…except maybe that guy I ran into at the stoplight a couple days ago, with the crotch rocket from hell. Too bad I didn't get a chance to get to know him before he disappeared.

The more I thought about him though, the more steamed I became. He had toyed with me…just so he could show off his really cool, fast motorcycle and fatten up his obviously enormous ego. Whatever…

"Come on over here and grab a brewsky," yelled Cid, the man who owned the gorgeous many-windowed house and the airship not too far away.

I had been there at least an hour and I could have sworn he had gone through an entire pack of smokes in that short amount of time.

* * *

Later that afternoon, I was right in the middle of eating a hot dog when the big guy named Barret yelped out of the clear blue. 

"Yo, Spiky!"

I turned to where everyone was looking and promptly began choking on the hot dog.

Making his way down the deck stairs to the grass where the picnic tables were set up was none other than my elusive biker friend. Heck, I could have spotted the gravity-defying spiked blonde hair a mile away. What in the world were the chances of running into him at my cousin's, friend's barbecue? Slim to none. Yet there he was.

Tammy elbowed me. "That's him. That's Cloud."

Wonderful. He just so happened to be the guy Tammy couldn't stop talking about earlier…the cute, sensitive, bad boy who would think I was hot. This was the icing on the cake. Did I dare tell her I had seen him on the streets on Thursday when he challenged me to a race in which he totally cheated?

He walked around, greeting everyone individually and finally made his way to the party host. "Hey, Cid, sorry I'm late."

"No problem, buddy. Grab a burger or a dog. There's plenty of food."

Things couldn't have gotten any better…or worse…Cloud came and sat directly across from Tammy and I at our picnic table. Funny how he chose our table when there was plenty of room elsewhere. But then again, our table was where all the food was.

"Hello, Tammy," he said.

"Hi, Cloud." She emphasized his name for my sake.

Then his eyes shifted to me as he grabbed a burger from the tray in the center of the table. "Hello, Tammy's friend."

"Oh, Cloud, this is my cousin, Tessa. She moved in with me a couple weeks ago."

He nodded to me. "Nice to meet you, cousin Tessa." He proceeded to squirt large globs of ketchup and mustard on his burger. Then just before he was about to take a bite, he put the burger down and pointed a finger at me. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

I opened my mouth to remind him of our little encounter at the stoplight the other day, but Tammy jumped in before I could get a word out.

"Yeah, she kinda looks like some of those women in the catalog in Tifa's bathroom."

He frowned and turned to Tammy. "What catalog?"

"That lingerie catalog you were carrying around last month. You said you'd hang up your swords to get a date with one of those women."

"You're crazy. I never said that."

"I have witnesses," Tammy defended with a grin.

Annoyed that the subject changed in the blink of an eye, just when Cloud had been about to recall where he had seen me, I cleared my throat and they both turned to me. "Just for the record, you cheated," I pointed out.

Cloud raised his blonde eyebrows. "Cheated?" Then suddenly recognition came to his face and he nodded with a grimace. "You're the girl with the car."

"And you're the guy with the motorcycle."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Tammy jumped in again. "You two know each other?"

"Well, we don't really _know_ each other," I replied. "We were at a stoplight and he wanted to race."

"I beat you fair and square. Not my fault you can't handle your car." Cloud took a bite out of his burger, his brows drawn together on his uniquely flawless handsome face.

Tammy jumped in for the third time and turned to me. "Let me get this straight. You were racing _him_?" She pointed a thumb in Cloud's direction. "Nobody can beat his motorcycle."

"I rest my case," said Cloud before taking another bite out of his burger.

I slowly turned to him. "Well, since you seem to have a thing for lingerie, maybe I should have unbuttoned my shirt and showed you my bra. That might have distracted you."

Cloud stopped chewing and stared into my eyes. "Maybe…" he mumbled with his mouth full. He finished swallowing. "And I don't have a _thing_ for lingerie. I don't know what catalog your cousin is talking about."

Leaving them to argue it out, I got up to get another beer and was gratified to see his eyes instantly gravitate in my direction. Those eyes. Damn, the things they did to my insides was astronomical…and I didn't even know this guy. I walked over to the cluster of coolers and dug into one for a cold beer. Then as an afterthought I grabbed two more.

When I went back to sit down, Cloud was biting into a second burger. He looked up when I set a beer in front of him. "Thanks," he acknowledged under his breath.

Then the young girl introduced to me as Yuffie ran over and hugged Cloud from behind. "You are so adorable, Cloudy, I could just eat you up! Isn't he adorable?" She kissed his ear as he tried to squirm away from her.

In the next instant Yuffie went off to harass someone else.

Cloud ran a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes. "Damn, she's a pain in the ass sometimes."

"Girlfriend?" I asked with a smile, knowing she wasn't. But I wanted to rib him anyway because he clearly looked annoyed by the attention she had given him.

His eyes shot up in repressed anger. They were a flaming blue with an inner circle of bright green around the pupils. "No! She's not my girlfriend! I'd rather shave my head and jump into a pit of boiling lava!"

I held my hands up in defense. "Sorry."

His uniquely colored eyes remained on me a moment longer before he tossed the half-eaten burger on his paper plate and popped open the beer. "Real nice chatting with you," he said with a touch of sarcasm as he stood up.

I watched him walk away to join several other guys standing together. I turned to my cousin with a frown. "Where in the hell did you get the idea he'd like me?"

"Are you kidding? He's practically in love with you already."

"He's an insufferable fucking jerk!"

"That's just the way he is sometimes with people he doesn't know. But you should have seen the way he was looking at you when you got up. I mean, he was literally undressing you with his eyes."

"He was not."

"I swear he was."

"Whatever."

"Fine, don't believe me. But I bet you twenty gils he'll ask for your phone number by the time we leave here tonight."

"Fat chance of that ever happening. What's his problem anyway?"

"Well…Cloud's got issues."

"Issues. Like what?"

"He used to be in SOLDIER."

My jaw dropped in surprise. "Him?"

"Yeah and there's more. I mean, I don't know all the details or anything, just bits and pieces."

And she went on to tell me a few startling facts about Cloud…Cloud Strife…things she had heard from the others.

Maybe she shouldn't have told me anything at all because now I was fanatical. I suddenly wanted to know everything about him. Just like a rock star who couldn't be touched, Cloud seemed beyond my reach. There was a valid reason for my sudden obsession with him. Our hardships were somewhat in line, although his were far more extensive and seemed to span his entire lifetime, while mine were only in recent years.

SOLDIER was the elite force empowered by the Shin-Ra corporation. The president of Shin-Ra used members of SOLDIER to protect his mako reactors from being sabotaged. At the time, SOLDIERs were respected and feared for their incredible fighting abilities and use of weaponry.

It was soon discovered that the power generated by the mako reactors were stealing from the Lifestream that circled the planet. From what I heard, one particular SOLDIER, a powerful general named Sephiroth, lost his mind and went on a killing rampage. The details were pretty sketchy, but it was said that the two only other members of SOLDIER succeeded in stopping him at the cost of their own lives. That made me wonder about Cloud. If he had been one of the SOLDIERs that lost his life, then how could he be alive today?

Or was it all just a bunch of crap?

As the day progressed, I found myself seeking Cloud out in the backyard full of people. Not to talk to him or anything. Just to look at him. Dressed in long, baggy black shorts and a khaki colored teeshirt with some logo on it, he actually didn't look as intimidating as when I saw him on the street the other day. Cloud wasn't particularly large or tall, not even six feet…but the muscles in his arms, though subtle as they were, seemed to speak of some hidden strength to be called upon when needed.

He was engrossed in conversation with Vincent. Now there was an odd fellow, although he was cute in his own way. But he was a little too dark in character for my taste…kind of like a vampire almost. I couldn't figure him out at all. Tammy mentioned a few things about him, as well as Cid, Barret, Tifa and even Yuffie. They were all members of the Shin-Ra opposing troop called AVALANCHE…like superheroes. Way out of my league. I curiously wondered how Tammy managed to squeak her way into their circle of trust. Or was she in some way associated with this secret faction?

My eyes wandered back over to Cloud as he took a swig out of his fourth beer. That's right, I was keeping count. Then his pretty eyes suddenly shifted in my direction…fixing on mine. Like he had known I was looking at him. In that brief moment of eye contact, my stomach tightened almost sickeningly. Damn, he made me sweat just looking at him.

He excused himself from Vincent and walked in my direction.

My eyes widened a bit and I glanced around, discovering that Tammy wasn't anywhere near me. She was way over on the other side of the pool with Tifa. Cloud walked right passed me. I closed my eyes and released the breath I held, not sure if I was glad or sad that he didn't come up to me.

The next thing I knew, something cold and wet touched the side of my arm. My eyes popped open and there he was, holding a beer bottle against my skin.

"Thought maybe you could use another one of these."

I took it from him. "Thanks."

Then he walked away, leaving me to admire his backside and the pleasant way his shorts rode low on his ultra-slender hips. It was really cute how half his teeshirt was coming out of where it was supposed to be tucked in his shorts. I felt like going up to him and either pulling the rest of it out, or tucking it in. But I was positive he'd look at me like I had four heads.

He was on beer number five. How much could such a small guy suck down without making some kind of pit stop? Yeah, I was keeping track of that, too. So far no trips to the house…or any nearby bushes.

* * *

Sometime later, as the sun started going down, I got tired of frolicking in the pool with the other girls. As I sat at the edge with my feet dangling in the water, watching Tammy splashing the kids she had introduced to me as Marlene and Denzel, I glanced in Cloud's direction. Funny how everytime my eyes wandered to where he sat on a deck chair, he'd suddenly find his fingernails interesting. But I knew he was looking at me, I could see it from the corner of my eye. He was studying something on my back. 

I self-consciously flipped my hair back to cover my left shoulder and hide the scar he was no doubt looking at. When I saw him get up from his deck chair and walk toward me, I turned my attention back to Tammy and the kids.

Cloud came and sat right next to me and stuck his bare feet into the water.

I glanced over, waiting for him to say something…anything. When he remained silent, I decided to talk about the weather, just to get the butterflies out of my stomach. "Looks like it'll be a nice night."

He turned to me. "So you must think I'm a real prick, right?"

Okay, forget the weather. "Actually, I haven't formed any kind of opinion of you just yet." Except that I thought he was the most amazing person in the entire world…but I wasn't going to tell him that. He'd think I was a lunatic.

"Sorry if I came off like one."

I turned away. "No need to apologize." It was nice that he acknowledged his slightly rude behavior, but the question was, why did he even care to make things right with me? He didn't owe me anything. And it wasn't like he had insulted me in any way. He was just uncouth and unfriendly.

"I just wanted to see what you had under your hood."

My eyes darted back. "Excuse me?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Your car."

"Oh."

"I wanted to see if you had the guts to take her over a hundred."

"Were you disappointed?"

"Not at all." He pushed the hair out of his eyes.

At least we were talking civilly to each other. "So, what do you do besides ride around in that monster bike of yours?"

"I deliver stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Things people need."

Enough with the cryptic small talk. I decided to cut right to the chase. "Tammy told me you're an ex-SOLDIER."

His eyes shot over to me with a frown and it looked as if he was waiting for me to say more or maybe react in some expected way. But he remained silent for nearly a whole minute before finally responding. "Tammy's got a big mouth." He looked away. "What else did she say about me?"

"That you were part of the team that saved the planet a few years ago."

"I might have been," he said slowly.

It seemed like a touchy subject to him. "Cid confirmed it."

He ran his fingers through his unruly hair, suddenly looking terribly timid. "Cid's got a big mouth, too."

I laughed, trying my best to ease the sudden tension. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad if he just dropped the cocky tough guy act.

My laugh seemed to surprise him. "It doesn't bothers you?"

I noticed that his full lower lip pouted just a bit and I had visions of sucking on it for a half hour. Snap…back to reality. "What is it I'm supposed to be bothered by?"

Cloud looked away, almost as if he was unsure of the validity of my response. Then a minute later his eyes returned to me. "Where're you from?"

"Originally from Kalm. We moved to Junon three years ago…after my younger brother died." I waited for him to ask me about it. He just remained silent, staring at me with those eyes that strangely enough seemed to glow in the fading light of day.

"Well, anyway, I'm sorry for being an ass." He pulled his feet out of the water and lifted himself up into a crouching position. "I've gotta get going."

"Important delivery?"

"Sort of."

Just when we were starting to get along he had to leave? Bummer!

"So…uh…you think maybe I could call you sometime?" he timidly asked.

I owed Tammy twenty gils. "Sure."

Cloud looked a bit surprised at my response. "Really?" Maybe he assumed I'd say no. Then he pulled his cellphone out of a pocket and he did a little programming as I rattled off my number. Then he put the phone back in his pocket and stood up. "I'll call you soon."

Yeah, sure. He probably wouldn't call me at all. But I nodded anyway.

"See you later, Tess."

"Bye, Cloud." I thought it was kind of cute that he took it upon himself to shorten my name to Tess. It was already shortened from Contessa to Tessa. But I imagined a guy like Cloud needed to be different from everyone else.

As I watched him walk away, I was actually sad to see him go. But maybe…just maybe he might call me afterall.


	3. Scars

Disclaimer – Square-Enix owns it.

A/N – Hello all. Hopefully this story will draw a little more positive attention. It's my first Cloud fic so I hope I portray him close to the game and movie. But it may not be 100 percent perfect so please don't knock me for it. But if you have some helpful advice on his character, I appreciate any feedback.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Scars**

Tuesday, August 6

While I was shopping at Bellow's Clothier, my cellphone rang. I dug it out of my purse and put it to my ear as I checked the price tag on a pair of jeans.

"Hello?"

"Bet you didn't think I'd call."

It took about two seconds for me to figure out who it was. His voice sounded the same on the phone as it did in person. "Cloud…" I smiled and bit my lower lip.

"I would have called you sooner, but you know how it goes."

"No, I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" I teased, unable to believe he actually called me.

"And bore you to tears?" his cool voice replied.

I laughed. "You're probably right."

"What're you doing?"

"I'm looking at an expensive pair of jeans which are nice, but not worth the gils."

"Shopping. That's loads of fun."

"Well, I don't have anything better to do."

"How about a ride on the beach instead?"

I raised my eyebrows and dropped my jaw. Did he just invite me to the beach or did I just imagine it? "That…that does sound better."

"So what time can I pick you up?"

I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip again, the excitement literally overwhelming me. It was so cute that he assumed I would accept his invitation. But maybe he was used to getting his way. What girl could possibly refuse him? I looked at my watch. It was going on 11:00. "Give me a half hour?"

"Fine. See you in a bit."

"Wait, don't you want my address?"

"I know where Tammy lives."

"Okay then. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and made a mad dash to the checkout counter with my overpriced jeans. Then I made an even madder dash home. A ride on the beach. Maybe he wanted to go in the water, too. So I put on a bikini under my new jeans and tank top.

* * *

Cloud was already waiting at the curb by the time I headed back downstairs. He was seated on his black machine, left foot propped up on something, arms crossed over his chest. He wore a white teeshirt and faded blue jeans that were ripped at the knees.

I walked over with a smile and hopped on behind him. "Hi."

"Hi."

There wasn't much room on the seat so I had to scoot as close to him as possible. Which really wasn't a bad thing.

"Better hold on to me," he warned as he started up his motorcycle.

I wrapped my arms around his thin torso and he pulled away from the curb. It was a good thing I was holding tightly to him because we immediately reached ludicrous speed.

There was so much about the ride that was making me crazy. The feel of his rippled stomach underneath the light teeshirt he wore...And then there was his scent. He smelled clean, like he had just showered, with a hint of a masculine cologne.

I found it difficult to breathe when he was this close to me. My insides were doing flip flops. What was the matter with me? He was just a guy…an ordinary guy…who just so happened to have saved the world a few years ago.

We rode for almost an hour to get to the beach and then Cloud took the bike right on the sand, just shy of the water. I let go of him for a minute and raised my arms up in the air, letting the cool spray of the water hit my face. There was something exhilarating about going fast without being surrounded by metal and windows…the thrill of it. Now I knew why his preferred method of travel was this two-wheeled vehicle.

After awhile Cloud stopped near a grassy patch on a rise just beyond the beach. I dismounted first and stretched while Cloud dismounted after me and went into a compartment to pull something out. A bottle of wine and two glasses.

Wine…was he trying to tell me something? Or maybe he thought I was an easy conquest. I gave him a questioning look.

"What…you're thirsty, aren't you?" he asked matter-of-factly.

I smiled. "Yeah."

"All right then." He motioned to the open compartment. "Tifa made us some sandwiches."

"Well that was thoughtful of her." I pulled out a bag containing two sandwiches. When I unwrapped one of them I saw it consisted of ham and cheese on a bread roll. If Tifa had taken the time to make us sandwiches, then she obviously knew he was taking me out. Their relationship was still unclear to me. They both lived upstairs from her tavern, but they weren't together. Could there have been something between them before?

Cloud motioned with a tilt of his head to follow him. We walked down to the beach and sat down on the warm sand.

It was such a beautiful day, not too hot and not too cool. The sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky…except the one sitting next to me. I bet he was the brunt of all kinds of weather jokes when he was a kid. Then again, I imagined his obnoxious friends probably still ribbed him. Poor guy.

Cloud pulled the cork from the pre-opened bottle and poured the wine in both glasses. Then he handed me a glass as I handed him one of the sandwiches.

I sipped the wine. "Hm, not bad. What is it?"

He looked at the label on the bottle. "Something with a C. I'm not a wine drinker, but I thought it would be better than beer."

"I like wine, but I like other things, too."

"Like what?"

"I'm a sucker for tequila."

"I like tequila."

"Well, just so you know, I've been known to polish seven shots and still get up without a hangover the next morning."

He gave me a crooked smile. "Seven…that's nothing."

My jaw dropped. "Nothing? Like you can do more than that and still walk?"

"Sure I can."

"Are you a happy drunk or do you get mean?"

"Depends on what I drink. Tequila makes me…"

I waited for the rest of his sentence, but then I saw him deliberately take a large bite out of his sandwich. "Tequila makes you what?" I prompted.

"Never mind," he said with his mouth full. Then he took a gulp of his wine. "This isn't bad."

I had a feeling he changed the subject for a reason. "Have you always lived in Edge?"

He looked up. "No."

"Where else did you live?"

His look was suddenly a bit wide-eyed and panicked. "Nibelheim."

"Is that where you come from?"

"Yes."

What was with the one word answers all of a sudden? And it almost looked like he was afraid of what I'd ask next. "Do your parents still live there?"

There was a long pause before he finally responded. "My parents are dead."

"Oh…I'm sorry."

He frowned and shook his head with a shrug. Then he stared down at his sandwich for a long time.

"Is something wrong?" I finally asked.

"No, I just…I don't like talking about myself." He looked up. "I'd rather talk about you."

"So how do I get to know you, ask someone else?"

"You can talk to Tifa…or Barret."

"Are you serious? I'm not going to do it that way."

"Well that's the way it is with me," he replied a little irritated.

"Fine." I tossed my sandwich aside, suddenly losing my appetite. Silence stretched between us and finally I looked up. "Maybe you should just take me home."

"Why?" he asked with an innocent frown.

I looked at him with my mouth open. He was totally clueless, wasn't he?

"I'm sorry, Tess. I tend to stick my foot in my mouth a lot."

"What're you so afraid of?"

He looked down with a frown again. "Look, I've done a lot of shit I'm not proud of and whenever I talk about it…it scares people off. I don't want that to happen with you."

The fact that he cared enough to worry about scaring me off was somewhat of a good sign. It meant he wanted to keep seeing me…maybe. "So you're immediately putting me in the same category as everyone else without even giving me a chance."

He looked up again and innocently scratched his chin. "See what I mean? Foot in mouth."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of your mental instabilities?"

"That's not what it is," he replied softly.

I leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. He seemed a little surprised by my action. "I'd never judge you, Cloud. I'm not like that."

"Just give me a little time. Let's talk about you today and next time we'll talk about me."

"Right, you say that because there probably won't be a next time."

The corner of his lips curved upward. "Actually, I'm thinking there will be."

Cloud was adorable when he smiled. Correction…he was drop-dead gorgeous. The way his eyes sparkled blue and green in the sunlight…it was a little surreal. What got me was that he seemed totally oblivious to how gorgeous he was.

While we ate our sandwiches and drank our wine I told him bits and pieces of my life. About my parents, my sister Cassie who was getting married in a couple weekends, my experiences in Kalm with jobs that ended up in me quitting because some guys just didn't know that 'no' meant 'no'.

As I continued, I wondered whether he would feel more comfortable talking about himself if I told him some of my own problems. "I have some scars on my back."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed when we were at Cid's house. It's not horrible or anything. You can't really see them unless you're up close."

I knew he was trying to make me feel better about the ugly purple scars, but they were disgusting to me. "A bad experience with a Shadow Creeper." As much as I hated reliving the incident, I felt I needed to get it off my chest. Cloud would be able to relate, seeing as he experienced some hardships of his own. "I was walking to the store with my younger brother." I smiled whenever I thought about him. "Joey was extremely protective of me so he usually followed me everywhere I went. It was around the time people were getting the stigma and panicking, so Joey was armed with a pistol. We were only a block away from home when the Shadow Creepers appeared. Two of them. They just came right out of the ground." I swallowed hard, remembering how terrified I was. "We ran. People were everywhere, shouting and panicking. I heard it behind me but I didn't turn around, even when it took me down, snagging my back with its claws. I heard shots and the thing was gone. But by that time I was screaming from the pain and eventually passed out."

Cloud's eyes were locked on me as I went on.

"I woke up in the hospital. Mom and Dad and Cassie were there. At first I couldn't remember what happened. Then it all came back to me. When I asked where Joey was…Mom burst into tears. I knew he was gone. Later I heard stories from people that survived the attack. They said Joey lured the Shadow Creeper away from me." I felt my eyes begin to burn. "He saved my life at the cost of his own." I looked down and wiped at my eyes. "So…I carry this guilt with me because I should be the one who's dead, not Joey."

"It's not your fault," Cloud said softly. "But I know how you feel."

I still hoped he would share one of his experiences, but I didn't press him when he didn't.

"What made you decide to move to Edge?" he asked after a long silence.

I shrugged and smiled to lighten the somber mood. "Tammy told me it was a fascinating place."

"Fascinating?"

"All the construction and the buildings going up."

"Yeah, if that's what fascinates you."

I didn't tell him the real reason I moved out was because I felt my father blamed me for Joey's death. No matter how hard he tried not to be, I knew he resented me after that. I couldn't make peace with myself because of it and I needed to get away. "Well, what fascinates you?"

He looked up at the sky with a reserved smile. "Riding Fenrir as fast as I can until I can't even see the road."

I smiled again as I watched him. Fenrir was what he called his motorcycle. "Yeah, I can see how that would fascinate you. That's quite a machine."

"It's a weapon, too."

"A weapon?"

"It fires armor-piercing rounds and it stores my swords."

"You'll have to show them to me one of these days."

An hour and an entire bottle of wine later, I got up and stretched. "Mind if I go for a swim?"

He gave me a curious look. "With your clothes on?"

I replied by pulling off my tank top to reveal my bikini. Then I slid out of my jeans.

His eyes automatically drifted over me. "No, can't say I mind at all."

"You didn't wear your swim trunks?"

"I didn't know we'd be swimming."

"So take off your jeans. You're wearing boxers, right?"

He gave me another curious look. Was I being too forward? "Never mind what I'm wearing." He took off his boots and socks and then stood up to pull off his long-sleeved teeshirt.

My jaw literally dropped to the ground. When my arms were wrapped around his torso on the back of his bike earlier, I knew he had a well-defined chest, but to actually see it bare…ohmygoodGawd! I was gawking at him and I needed to stop it before he noticed, so I turned and ran toward the water.

Cloud was right behind me.

We jumped in as a wave came crashing up. Then we swam around for awhile, splashing each other and playing tag. All the while the waves plummeted us mercilessly.

When we were exhausted from fighting with the waves, we came out and reclined on the grass, away from the sand so it wouldn't stick to our wet bodies.

A few minutes later I rolled over on my stomach to look at Cloud. His eyes were closed, making me wonder if he had fallen asleep. It gave me an opportunity to study him. With his hair wet, it looked a couple shades darker and didn't spike out so much. He also had an earring on his left lobe. A wolf's head with a ring through its nose. Funny how I hadn't really noticed it before.

His chiseled chest rose and fell with every breath he took through his slightly parted lips. A thin line of fine blonde hairs trailed down from just below his bellybutton and disappeared in wet jeans that clung to his bent legs, giving me the impression of the lean muscle beneath. My eyes drifted further over them where his knees poked through the holes there. They were a bit boney, but I remembered he had nice legs when I saw him in long shorts at Cid's party last Saturday. I continued downward to his bare feet. They were pretty big, which meant…My eyes drifted back up to glimpse the package between his legs, emphasized by the wet jeans clinging nicely around it.

I rolled over on my back again and looked up at the sky with a sigh. If I didn't stop picturing what he had in his pants, I wouldn't be able to control my hands on the ride home. And how would that make me look?

A half an hour later Cloud stretched and sat up. He turned to me and I smiled up at him. "Sorry I fell asleep," he said sheepishly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't get much last night."

I liked it when he played with his hair. "Don't worry about it. It's okay."

He got up and felt his jeans, finding them dry. "Ready to take off?"

"Yeah." I went down to the sand and he followed me to retrieve our things.

After we walked back to his motorcycle, I slid into my jeans.

Cloud suddenly came up behind me and pushed my hair out of the way. His fingers lightly traced over the largest of the three scars, making me shiver. "Must have been deep."

I looked over my shoulder at him as he followed the movement of his fingers. "They had to reconstruct my shoulder. I've got pins and screws holding it all together."

His eyes drifted up to meet mine. Something passed through his face, as if he was recalling some distant memory. Maybe something he had experienced. "Sounds painful."

"Yeah, it hurts sometimes." When he moved away, I pulled my tank top on over my bikini and glanced at my watch. It was going on 4:00, making me wonder why we were leaving so early. "You have somewhere to go?"

"I promised Cid I'd help him with some parts for his airship." He mounted the bike and waited for me to climb on behind him. Then we were off.

* * *

Cloud pulled up along the curb in front of the apartment building. I dismounted and when he turned off the motorcycle, he walked me inside and upstairs to the door.

I turned around to face him. "Thanks for taking me to the beach today, Cloud. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, I did too."

We stood looking at each other for an uncomfortable moment. I wasn't sure what to do or say, so I just waited. Finally he seemed to make up his mind and reached for my hand, pulling me closer before he started to lean toward me. I tilted my face up to receive his kiss, feeling his warm breath brushing over my cheek before it moved to my lips.

The door suddenly opened. "Well, it's about time you got…"

Cloud pulled away before he ever touched my lips and we both turned to Tammy.

"Oh…Cloud. I wasn't expecting to see you here." Then she put her hands on her hips as she realized what she was seeing. "Did you two go out or something?"

"Something," Cloud timidly replied. He gave my hand a squeeze. "I'll see you later, Tess." He walked away and as an afterthought, he looked over his shoulder. "Bye, Tammy."

I longingly watched him disappear down the stairs before turning to Tammy. "Your timing sucks, dear cousin."

"Did I interrupt something?"

"You can say that." I walked passed her and went inside.

"So…was it like a date?" she asked, following me and closing the door behind her.

"We just went for a ride on his motorcycle and went for a swim at the beach. It was actually really nice." I didn't tell her that I was missing him already and he had only been gone thirty seconds.

"Sounds like a date to me."

I plopped myself down on the couch and Tammy fell next to me. For some reason I couldn't seem to wipe the smile off my face. "I don't know what it is about him…"

"I told you he'd grow on you."

I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around my knees. "But what's the story with him and Tifa?"

"There's no story. They grew up in the same town, fought some battles together when they were in AVALANCHE and now they just look out for each other."

"So there was never anything romantic between them?"

"Not that I know of. I think Cloud lives there because he can't afford his own place. Besides, Tifa's been with Reno for almost a year." She frowned a little. "Although I don't see the attraction there, but to each her own."

"Why? I think Reno's kinda cute."

"Yeah, until he opens his big fat mouth."

I laughed, agreeing that some of the things Reno had said that day at Cid's party were pretty obnoxious. Apparently Cloud was the main subject of Reno's pet names. He called him 'Chocobo Head' and 'Strifey'.

She poked me in the arm. "Did Cloud ask you out?"

I shook my head. "No, but do you think he's alright?" Was he a ladies man? Was he the love them and leave them kind of guy? I didn't want to start seeing him if I couldn't be the only girl.

Tammy laughed. "He may be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but in the end, he's really an all right guy. Him and Kyle get along great."

"I dunno. Maybe he just wants to be friends."

"Trust me, Tessa, he's got enough friends. If he actually took the time to take you somewhere…anywhere…alone, then he's interested in you."

I wasn't quite so convinced. "Does he always have trouble talking about himself?"

"Always. He never volunteers anything personal about himself unless it's a life or death situation. When he gets in that cocky mood of his, he's so full of shit sometimes it's not even funny. I swear sometimes I wanna beat his head with a bat to knock some sense into him. He puts up the damned walls when he feels he can't be himself."

"Well, I'm not going to pressure him when he doesn't feel like talking." I smacked her arm. "By the way, you totally interrupted his goodbye kiss to me."

Tammy's jaw dropped. "Shut up!" She smacked me back. "And you doubt me when I say he likes you?"

I shrugged and continued to smile. Maybe she was right. Maybe Cloud did like me. I really hoped so because I really wanted to see him again.

* * *

My cellphone rang at 10:15 that night. I snatched it off my nightstand and looked at the display, recognizing the number. When I flipped the phone open and put it to my ear, I couldn't stop my smile. "Hi, Cloud."

"Hi. Were you sleeping?"

"Not yet. What about you? Are you home now?"

"Yeah, I got home a little while ago."

"You must be tired."

"Eh, I'm alright."

I curled up under the covers and sighed. Just hearing his voice was making me all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Sorry about before," he said softly.

"For what?"

"I wanted to kiss you…but then Tammy came out."

"I know."

"I will next time. For sure."

I wanted to jump up on the bed and do a happy dance. "I like that you have such conviction."

"Is that all you like about me?"

I closed my eyes, visualizing his face. "I'm sure there's more to you than just what's on the surface." I could have told him so much more, but even though I was totally obsessed with him, I didn't want to sound like I was. If he was interested in me, then he needed to make all the moves.

"Can I see you again?" he asked.

"What do you have in mind? Another ride on the beach?"

"I was thinking more like dinner tomorrow night."

I instantly caved. "Yes." So much for playing hard to get.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

"I'll be ready."

"Goodnight, Tess."

"Goodnight, Cloud."

After I hung up, I nervously bit my thumbnail, wondering what direction this was headed. What was he looking for?


	4. It's Official

Disclaimer – Square-Enix owns it.

_A/N – I've seen lots of hits on this story but haven't heard much from anyone. Is anyone reading? I'm posting this next chapter, but I may not post anymore after this one unless I know there's some kind of interest out there. Please let me know what you think so far._

* * *

**Chapter 4**** – It's Official **

Wednesday, August 7 

I came out of my bedroom wearing a girly dress with pastel flowers over a cream-colored background. The front was cut low and the skirt was flouncy and short.

Tammy did a double-take when she saw me. "And where are you going all dolled up?"

"Cloud's taking me to dinner."

She shook her head with a smile. "God, you're all giddy and bubbly, it's almost nauseating."

"Really?" I looked down at myself. "Do I look like something that should be put in a vase and watered?"

"The dress is perfect."

"I'm a nervous wreck. Look at me, I'm sweating already."

"What're you so nervous about?"

"I don't know. I just…I really like him, but I don't want him to think I'm desperate. You know?"

"Well, no one ever knows what's going on in that spiked head of his. You'll be fine."

I pulled her by the hand. "Walk down with me."

When Tammy and I came out of the main entrance of the apartment complex, Cloud was pulling up on his motorcycle. Just the sight of him stirred butterflies in my stomach.

Cloud smiled as I walked up and mounted behind him on his bike. He waved a greeting to Tammy and then looked over his shoulder at me. "You look nice."

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks."

"Have fun," Tammy called out.

I waved to her before the motorcycle pulled away from the sidewalk.

Cloud seemed to know where he was going as we drove through the city. Ten minutes later we parked near a restaurant called Xerk's. He dismounted first and pulled off his leather gloves before taking my hand and helping me dismount.

I didn't complain when he didn't release my hand as we walked toward the front entrance. It gave me an opportunity to look at him. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt tucked into black slacks. The slacks rode low on his waist and he had a black belt to keep them up or I imagined they would have slipped right off his slender frame. Black had to be his favorite color.

Inside the restaurant, a maitre'd greeted us. "Welcome to Xerk's."

"Near the window, please," Cloud told him.

"Certainly, right this way." He led us to a table in a quiet corner and placed two menus on it.

Cloud sat down first and stupidly looked up at me before immediately standing back up. He waited for me to sit down before he sat down again. So he did remember his manners, but I never would have batted an eyelash anyway.

"Have you eaten here before?" I asked as I picked up the menu, trying to keep my nervousness from showing.

"No, Cid told me about this place. I don't eat out much…or at least not nice places like this. When I'm home I just eat what Tifa makes."

While we were on the subject of Tifa, I decided to see what was going on between them. But I needed to tread lightly because I didn't want to offend him in any way if he had feelings for her. "Tifa seems like a great girl."

He glanced through the menu. "Yeah, she's helped me out a lot."

"You must really love her."

Cloud's eyes drifted up to mine. They looked sapphire in the subdued lighting of the restaurant. "I do…but it's not what you're thinking."

"You live together, don't you? With Marlene and Denzel?"

He put the menu down. "Tifa and I aren't together. We've never been together. It's not like that between us."

I nodded in understanding. "I wasn't sure if there was something going on between you and Tifa, but then I saw her with Reno…well, to be honest with you, I don't exactly know what we're doing, either...so…"

His eyes searched mine briefly. "I was thinking maybe…you know…we could do stuff together."

I smiled. "Is this your roundabout way of asking me out?"

He looked away and I couldn't help but notice his eyes doing a brief little dance around my cleavage. "Sort of."

I wanted to ask him what he had in mind, but it was still too fresh between us. I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable. There was only one other guy I had ever been serious about and it had been a disaster because of circumstances beyond my control…or partially beyond my control…I guess I could have made the choice to put out and I didn't, so maybe what happened was mostly my fault. And then again, maybe it wasn't. So what would it be like to date Cloud? Would he be a creep like every guy I had casually dated?

"Am I gonna get an answer anytime soon or do I have to wait indefinitely?"

I stared at him with a dumb look, not sure how to even say yes…or no. "Sure, I'd like to do stuff together with you." Well, it was a yes in my book.

He reached for my hand and held it. "I like you, Tess. I like being with you."

I didn't get a chance to respond because the waitress approached our table and Cloud abruptly released my hand.

"Hi, I'm Becky. Can I get you something from the bar?"

Cloud looked at me. "Beer?"

I nodded.

He looked up at Becky. "Two beers, please."

After she walked away, we talked about what we were going to order. Then we decided on splitting a plate of noodles with some seafood.

As we took our time eating, Cloud told me some history about Edge and the renovations to the main highways. It was actually pretty boring stuff, but I just loved listening to him talk. He didn't say much most of the time, but when he warmed to a certain subject, he seemed to have a lot to say. He had the kind of voice that gave you goosebumps…for no reason at all.

I loved watching him eat, too. He had a funny way of holding his fork that reminded me of a kid whose parents didn't show him how. Twirling the noodles around it seemed to be a real challenge and I had to suppress a smile because I didn't want to embarrass him.

After the main course we had coffee and shared a slice of apple pie, which resulted in a fork fight for the last piece. Even though he defeated me, he relinquished it anyway. That small act of unselfishness said a lot about him.

It was dark by the time we left the restaurant. As we walked toward his motorcycle, we noticed there was a band playing down one of the side streets.

"Wanna check it out?" Cloud asked.

"Sure."

Cloud took my hand and we walked together to join the crowd that was standing around listening. The band was actually really good.

I smiled to myself when Cloud released my hand and placed an arm around my shoulder. I leaned against him, just so he would know I didn't mind.

We stayed awhile, enjoying the music and cheerful atmosphere around us. When the band took a break, Cloud and I walked back to his bike and mounted up.

After arriving at my apartment, Cloud walked me upstairs as he did the day before. We both glanced at the door, expecting it to open and smiled at each other when it didn't. The moment seemed alittle awkward again, but he didn't wait as long to make his move as he did the last time we were standing at my door.

I looked down when he reached for my hand. "Cloud…this isn't going to turn into…a one-night stand, right?"

"A one-night stand? Is that what you think I'm looking for?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. I don't know what I'm thinking."

"If I wanted that, I could have gone elsewhere. It's not what I want, Tess."

I looked up and searched his eyes. There was something in them and in his voice…or maybe I was imagining it because I wanted so badly to believe him.

"I said I'd kiss you for sure next time. Is that still okay?"

My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. I closed the gap between us and tilted my face upward, showing him rather than telling him that it was definitely okay.

Cloud tilted his face to the right and leaned closer to me. His lips pressed lightly against mine in a soft, lingering kiss before repositioning and holding it a little longer. He followed it with two more soft, slow kisses before slowly pulling away. "Call me tomorrow?"

I nodded as he backed away. "Bye."

"Bye." He turned and walked to the stairs. Then he gave me one final look before heading down.

I unlocked the door and went inside, rushing over to the window to watch him come out of the apartment building and mount his motorcycle. Somehow he knew I was at the window because he looked right up at me and gave me a wave. Then he drove away. I sat on the window ledge and reached up to touch my lips. His kisses had been simple, yet heartfelt. I sighed, hoping that this relationship wouldn't be hindered by things that happened in our past. His more than mine. It seemed to be teetering on the edge of a blade, ready to fall at any time. I seemed to be saying the wrong things to him because I was so insecure…so afraid he'd be just like any other guy. My expectations for him were too high and I knew I needed to bring them down a notch.

I shook my head to get rid of the negative thoughts. We just started seeing each other. I needed to give our relationship a chance.

Tammy came out of her bedroom with a yawn. "Hey, how did your date go?"

"It was nice."

"Just nice? Did he ask you out?"

I gave her a smile and a nod. "It's official."

Tammy raised a fist in victory. "Yes! Can I call it or what?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I walked into my bedroom and closed the door.

* * *

Thursday, August 8 

I called Cloud's cellphone at 9:30.

He answered it after three rings. "Hi, Tess." He sounded out of breath.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, just hauling some old tires outside. Tifa's been nagging me to throw them out. They're stinking up my bedroom." He heaved a breath. "What're you up to?"

"I thought I'd surprise Tammy by cleaning the bathroom."

"Sounds exciting."

"You have no idea."

"Wanna do something today?"

"No deliveries?"

"Nope. I'm free all day."

"Tammy mentioned going to a movie later tonight."

"Sure, but I was hoping to see you sooner than that."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Have you been to the Fair yet?"

"You forget I've only been here a few weeks. The only place Tammy took me so far was to Cid's house when he had the barbecue."

"Remind me to give that girl a hug."

"What for?"

"If she didn't take you then we might not have met."

"Unless we ran into each other at another stoplight. Which reminds me, I still think you cheated."

He laughed. "Okay, I admit it. But I'll have to show you how to really handle your car. You've got a lot more power than you think."

The idea of Cloud driving my car seemed like such a personal thing for some reason and I couldn't figure out why.

"So are we on for the Fair?"

"Sure."

"I'll pick you up in an hour."

"Okay."

After hanging up, I went back into the bathroom to finish scrubbing the shower and get ready.

* * *

Cloud was punctual for the third time, which contradicted what Tifa said about him being fashionably late to things all the time. I hoped he happened to be on time because he was as anxious to see me as I was to see him.

I hopped on behind him and he turned around to greet me with a quick peck on the lips. It really made me feel like we were together…a couple. Then we were racing down the streets.

The Fair was situated about ten minutes south of Edge. It was sort of like its own little village where all the employees were dressed in clothing from centuries ago. Peddlers sold things from wooden carts, jugglers and musicians performed on the streets, men jousted on Chocobos. There were archery contests and sword fighting.

Cloud and I were having a blast, enjoying the performances and the food sampling. We held hands as we walked through the streets and the feeling of togetherness struck me again. We were actually going out. It was strange that only a week ago, I thought he had been a figment of my imagination when I saw him at the stoplight. But he was a living, breathing person…who asked me out the night before and now we were on our second official date. I didn't count the beach as a date because we weren't really official yet.

We decided to go into a pub to have a beer and were surprised a few minutes later when the waitresses started dancing on top of the tables in their long skirts.

Our waitress, or wench as she wanted to be called, reached down for my hand and pulled me up on the table with her. Cloud smiled and laughed, teasing that he was glad it was me and not him up on the table. I was out of breath when we were finished and chugged half the contents of my beer mug.

After a couple more beers and several more dances, Cloud and I left the pub and continued moseying down the ancient village. He told me a couple of cheesy jokes and I laughed, not because they were funny, but because he thought they were and because he looked so cute telling them.

"Who's the most popular guy in a nudist camp?" he asked as he leaned closer to me.

I knew it was another joke. "I give up."

"The guy who can carry two coffees and a dozen donuts."

I had to stop and think about that one for a minute and when it hit me, I rolled my eyes and smacked him on the arm while he laughed his little laugh.

We came across a hedge maze and went for a stroll as I rambled on about some of the things Tammy and I did when we were kids.

"We just sat there by ourselves, scared out of our wits and then suddenly the radio came on all by itself. Tammy screamed and then I screamed. We both got up and ran out of the bedroom." I turned to see Cloud's reaction and suddenly discovered he wasn't beside me…or behind me…or anywhere near me. "Cloud?"

For several minutes, I went down various paths, turning corners, coming upon dead ends and retracing my steps. Where the heck was he?

"Cloud!"

I came across another dead end and turned to go back. Then a hand grabbed me by the wrist and I yelped as I was pulled into a hole in the hedge.

"Shhh," said the familiar voice behind me, right in my ear.

I was about to turn around and give Cloud a piece of my mind for scaring the crap out of me, but he shushed me again.

"Someone's following us," he whispered. "Very dangerous people."

I stiffened and turned around to face him. "Who are they?"

Cloud slipped his arms around me and held me close, his breath ghosting over my cheek. Then I heard him snicker.

I looked up at him and he had a smile on his face. "You're making it all up."

"Yeah, cuz I wanted to do this." He tilted his face and gave me a slow, open-mouthed kiss.

His lower lip was soft against mine and I wanted to suck on it so badly. But it wasn't that kind of kiss. Not yet. This time it was gentle brushing of lips and mingling of breaths. Whatever it was, my toes curled in my shoes and I felt a little weak in the knees.

Cloud reluctantly released me when we heard some children laughing nearby and we came out of the hole in the hedge.

I smoothed out my top and glanced up at Cloud. He had a smudge of my lipstick on his lip. I wasn't going to say anything, but if he went into the Men's Room and looked at himself in the mirror, he'd know I purposely didn't tell him. So I nudged him to a stop and reached up to wipe the lipstick off his lip with my thumb.

He followed that by wiping his mouth further with the back of his hand.

At around 4:30 we left the Fair and headed back to the apartment where we waited with Tammy for Kyle to come get us with his car.

* * *

For dinner, Kyle suggested a place called Wayne's Fish Market and we ordered several sampler dishes so we could try different things.

I noticed Cloud ate pretty much anything…except the frog legs. He looked disgusted when the plate was passed in front of him. I wasn't too partial to them myself and let Kyle and Tammy have at them.

An hour later we were sitting in the darkened theater watching a new comedy that had gotten great reviews.

I was enjoying the sound of Cloud's subtle laugh much more than the movie. It was never a rib-aching laugh, but I liked listening to him. Plus with his arm wrapped around me, it gave me the chance to move closer to him. His scent was making me light-headed and dizzy, but the sensations his closeness gave me were so addicting.

After the movie, we all went back to our apartment for some coffee and sat around the kitchen table.

While pouring the coffee, Cloud was on his cellphone listening to his messages. One particular message made him frown a bit, but I didn't ask him if anything was wrong.

It was going on 11:00 when Kyle got up from the table. "Well, I'm going. I gotta be up early."

"Yeah, I should get going, too," added Cloud.

Kyle gave him a light smack on the back. "See you, buddy."

When Tammy and Kyle walked out of the kitchen, Cloud reached for my hand across the table. "I've got a delivery to Fort Condor tomorrow. I won't be back until Saturday night."

I couldn't hide the disappointment on my face. It meant I wouldn't see him the next day.

He pulled my hand up and kissed my knuckles. "I'm sorry, Tess."

"It's okay, Cloud." I shrugged. "It's not like we have to see each other everyday."

Tammy poked her head through the doorway. "Goodnight, you two."

Cloud and I both said goodnight to her and stood up from the table.

I turned off the kitchen light and walked Cloud to the door. When I moved closer to him, he folded his arms around me. I closed my eyes and relished in the feel of him against me. He was so warm and comfortable. Then I remembered I wouldn't see him for a day and I felt empty in the pit of my stomach.

Fort Condor was almost a thousand miles away, at the southern point of the country. It would take him nearly a day to get there and another day for the return trip because of the mountains he'd need to traverse.

"We'll do something special when I get back," he whispered in my ear. "Anything you want. I promise."

"Will you take me to Midgar? I'd really love to see it."

Cloud loosened his embrace. "I haven't been there in awhile, but we can do that." He leaned toward my lips and kissed me lightly.

When he lingered for another kiss, I parted my lips a bit. His lips fit perfectly into mine. Feeling his full lower lip between mine was making me crazy. I couldn't help myself, I sucked lightly on it as we shared several slow kisses.

"I'll call you from the road tomorrow," he said as he released me. Then he turned around to open the door. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Cloud. Stay safe."

"I will." He leaned in for one more lingering kiss before he walked out.

I waited until he disappeared down the stairs before I closed the door and leaned back against it. There was no doubt in my mind…the chemistry between us was pretty intense. We both knew it. I wasn't nervous in his presence anymore. It seemed the more I got to know his real personality, the more I liked him. But there was still so much more of Cloud I needed to know. His past was still sketchy. I only got bits and pieces from Tammy and she didn't really know anything firsthand, only what she had heard from the others. Cloud was the only one who knew the truth and I wasn't going to believe anything unless it came from his lips.


	5. Ghosts of Midgar

_A/N – Thanks for the reviews and PMs. I'll keep posting as you've requested. This is one of my favorite chapters so far. Hope you enjoy it._

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Ghosts of Midgar**

Friday, August 9

Cloud called me the next day around noon. "I'm halfway there. I just stopped to eat something."

I heard movement on the other end, like he was drinking from a water bottle. "Is it hot out there?"

"Scorching."

"It's hot in the city, too. Try and stay cool, Cloud."

"Yeah, I'm drinking lots of water."

I wanted to tell him about my sister's wedding next weekend, but I was afraid to ask if he wanted to go. Maybe it was too soon in our relationship to be meeting my parents and pretty much the rest of my relatives. "Cloud, I know we just started…going out, but I was wondering…my sister's wedding is next weekend."

"Are you gonna invite me?"

"Would you go?"

"I guess."

"She's getting married in Costa Del Sol."

"Oh."

"The wedding's next Sunday which means leaving home the day before. Then my family wants me to stay for a week. I'm not sure if you can get away from work for that long."

"Well, I could see if Barret or Vincent could pick up my jobs while I'm gone."

It sounded like he might be agreeing to go with me. "So you'll go?"

"I wouldn't mind seeing Costa Del Sol. It's been a few years."

"They built this huge resort on the beach. That's where we'll be staying."

"Is your family okay with me going?"

"Mom will probably throw a lethal fit, but she'll get over it. Do you have a tuxedo?"

He snickered. "Do I look like I'd own one?"

I smiled to myself, thinking it had been a dumb question to ask him. He had no use for a tuxedo. "The wedding's black tie so we'll have to get you one."

"Sounds like a thrill a minute," he said without emotion.

"I'm hoping you can liven up the monotony." And hoping he could take some of the tension away between me and my father.

"I'll do my best to stir things up." He was silent for a moment. "What about my room?"

"I'll have to call and reserve one now that I know you're going."

"Well, I thought maybe we could…you know…"

"Share?" I finished his sentence.

"Yeah."

"You don't mind?"

"I'm fine with it if you are."

My stomach did about ten consecutive flips. Sharing a hotel room with Cloud meant one of two things. Either he was going to sleep on the couch or we'd be hot and heavy by next weekend. The latter really made me nervous because we hadn't even made out yet. But I decided to pretend it wasn't a big deal and ignore my queasy stomach. "It's fine. Oh, Tammy and Kyle are going, too."

"Shouldn't be too bad then."

My heart was pounding at the chance to have Cloud to myself for a whole week. No work to cut into our time. No distractions. I was so excited I could barely contain myself.

* * *

Cloud called me at 9:30. I was sitting on the couch with Tammy, watching TV. 

"Is Kyle taking his car?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah. You can bring Fenrir if you want."

"I'd like to. We can ride up in the mountains behind the village. I never got to do that last time I was there. Whatta you say?"

"Oh yeah…let's do it."

"And ride along the beach, too, like the other day."

"Mmm…and get all wet."

He laughed. "We'll go fast. You like going fast, right?"

"Oh yeah, I love it fast."

Tammy eyed me suspiciously from the other end of the couch. "Goddammit, are you guys having phone sex?"

I giggled. "Did you hear what Tammy just asked?"

"Tell her not to get jealous."

"Cloud said don't be jealous," I told Tammy.

Tammy rolled her eyes and got up with a sigh. "You're both sick. I'm going to bed. Don't mess up my couch."

I laughed as Tammy walked away and then I laid down on the couch. "So have you?" I asked him.

"Have I what?"

"Ever have phone sex?"

"No. Have you?"

"No."

"Do you want to?" he asked with a small laugh.

I laughed with him. "If I understand it correctly, isn't the idea of phone sex based on already having done the real thing?"

"I bet I can get you going."

"Give it your best shot."

"Shut up, I'm kissing you right now."

"Hm, with tongue?"

"Yeah. Where should I touch you?"

"How about my feet?"

"Your feet?!"

"Yeah, I like my feet massaged."

"That's a weird thing to do during phone sex."

"How would you know? You said you never had phone sex."

"It's still weird."

"Are you rubbing my feet?"

"Fine, I'm rubbing your feet. They're clean, right?"

I laughed. "Yes, I'm very meticulous about my feet. I get monthly pedicures."

"You do have nice feet."

"And how would you know that?"

"I saw them twice. Once at Cid's pool and then at the beach."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"You forgot? Guess I need to work on some lasting impressions."

"I didn't notice you staring at my feet, Cloud."

"I wasn't staring at them…Besides, there were more interesting things to stare at."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

He chuckled. "New rule. Don't ask questions like that."

"Why not?"

"Because you won't like the answer."

"Try me."

"Okay, I was staring at your…hooters."

"That's real nice."

"Told ya you wouldn't like the answer."

"How many rules do you have?"

"I don't know…fifteen, maybe."

"Was that rule number one?"

"No, that's number two."

"What's rule number one?"

"Rule number one is obey all rules."

I laughed. "Maybe we should postpone phone sex until I know you a little better, otherwise we'll be breaking rule number two a lot?"

"Yeah, I should hit the sack. The sooner I get up tomorrow, the sooner I can get home."

"Good idea."

We talked for a couple more minutes before hanging up. I hoped these long distance deliveries didn't happen too often because I wasn't sure I could handle him being away so much. But then again, our relationship was still new. I'm sure things would settle down as time went by and I wouldn't be so gaga over him twenty-four hours a day. It was strange though that I couldn't remember being so excited about being with my ex-boyfriend. What was his name again?

* * *

Saturday, August 10

The following day, Cloud called around 3:30.

"I just got home. I'm gonna take a shower and then come pick you up."

"Where're we going?"

"You want to see Midgar, don't you?"

"You've been riding around for two whole days, Cloud. We can do that another time."

"No, it's okay, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Cloud picked me up twenty minutes later and we were off on his motorcycle.

With my arms wrapped around his waist, I pressed the side of my face against his back and hugged him tightly. He reached down and rested his hand on the side of my thigh. It was a pretty intimate thing for us to do, considering we hadn't really done anything but share a couple of chaste kisses.

Cloud took us out of the city and we were flying down the desert road toward Midgar.

The ruins of Midgar loomed dark up ahead against an overcast sky. I had only seen the deserted city from a distance when I first arrived in Edge. It just looked spooky and exciting at the same time.

From what I read in the newspapers, Midgar had once been a thriving metropolis, with Shinra's Mako reactors feeding power into every corner of the circular city. It was all destroyed when Sephiroth unleashed a spell called Meteor that brought a calamity down from the sky. Even though the planet's Lifestream prevented the catastrophe, severe storms caused Midgar's final destruction, which caused most of the prestigious ground shelves above to come crashing down on the slums beneath, killing thousands of people.

Every once in awhile Cloud would stop and point something out. He was very somber when he gave me statistics on how many people had died in certain areas. Then we'd go off in another direction.

"Hold on to me, and I mean really hold on," he warned.

The next thing I knew, we were nearly vertical, heading up a slope to the top of the wall that went all the way around the city. But the crazy ride didn't stop there. Cloud sent Fenrir sliding sideways down another path and we skipped over some fallen sections of buildings before landing back on a more horizontal road.

I screamed. "Woohoo, let's do that again!"

Cloud smiled and sent Fenrir speeding faster. He did some other hair-raising stunts that had me screaming again. I swore he was doing it on purpose just to freak me out. But I trusted his ability with the motorcycle. It was obviously built to do all kinds of special acrobatics and Cloud knew exactly how to handle it.

After awhile he came to a stop in front of a collapsed church and stared at it for a few minutes before he turned Fenrir toward the entrance and drove through it. He pulled to a stop just short of a pool of water in the middle.

I got off the back of the bike and walked forward to the pool. The floor beneath it had collapsed and judging by the lack of a ceiling, the rain must have filled it. There were collapsed columns and pews scattered around. It was like a typhoon had passed through the inside of the church. I crouched down and dipped my hand into the cool water, feeling it oddly tingling my skin.

When I glanced over my shoulder at Cloud, there was a pained expression on his face. His eyes slowly drifted around to different places in the church. The broken ceiling seemed to draw his attention the most…and so did the pool of water.

"There was a bed of flowers here once," he uttered softly as he referred to the pool of water.

This church obviously meant something to him. It almost looked like he was waiting to hear something…voices from his past perhaps. His pupils were dilated dark and his breathing seemed a bit labored. He actually looked alittle frightening for a minute.

"Cloud?" When he didn't respond and continued to stare around, I stood up and took a step closer to him. "Cloud…"

He finally looked at me, his eyes returning to their normal soft glow.

"Are you okay?"

He frowned and looked away. "Sorry, I must have zoned out." He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his undisciplined hair. Then he sighed heavily and looked up at me again. "I'm okay, really."

"Do you wanna go?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

I walked back and mounted behind him.

Cloud backed us out of the church and then headed us in another direction.

As darkness encroached, the only light came from the headlights at the front of his motorcycle, but he still seemed to know his way around.

We were tracking back the way we came when the sky rumbled and soon dumped heavy rain on us. In seconds we were soaked to the skin.

Cloud rolled us to a stop beneath an arch where the rain couldn't reach us. He turned off the engine before kicking out the stand to keep the bike upright. "We'll have to wait it out."

I didn't remove my arms from around him as I glanced around the near total darkness surrounding us now that the headlights were turned off. "Cloud, it's really spooky out here. I'm scared." I hated the dark. It made me wonder what creatures lurked around.

He turned around. "Come up in front," he said as he reached for my hand.

I dismounted and shivered as Cloud led me to straddle the seat facing him.

"Cold?" he asked.

"Freezing."

Cloud wrapped his arms around me and I leaned into him, pressing my hands against his chest. Considering the air was cold and his shirt was soaking wet, he still gave off a pleasant warmth.

His breath tickled my ear when he spoke. "Don't be afraid. I won't let anything happen to you." His voice sounded a little hoarse.

I slid my arms around his neck and as he tightened his arms around me, I lifted my legs to rest over his thighs so we could be as close as we could possibly get. "I'm not afraid anymore." I felt so safe with him.

Silence stretched on between us as he held me against him and we listened to the falling rain and the thunder rumbling in the distance. But it wasn't an awkward silence. It was nice being close to him and just being held this way. I liked feeling his breath against the side of my neck and I liked smelling him. It was the most comfortable I had felt since we first met.

"I'm twenty-four years old…" he suddenly said. "I was born in Nibelheim."

I was confused by this information, but then I realized it was probably his way of opening up a conversation about himself.

"It wasn't a happy childhood," he went on. "My father abused me. He called me stupid…and weak…and beat me almost on a daily basis. The townspeople didn't care. I was an outcast to them and because of it I didn't have any friends…except Tifa. She didn't seem to care what anyone thought. Her father hated me. He blamed me when she fell off a cliff at Mt Nibel and was in a coma for a week. I wasn't even with her and the others when it happened, but I was the one that found her, so he immediately assumed I caused it."

I listened to him and even though the things he told me were sad and degrading, I was so glad he was finally opening up to me. It meant our relationship was progressing. I just hadn't expected the magnitude of the tragic events he spoke of and remained quiet as he talked.

"I was never in SOLDIER," he said quietly and remained silent for a long time before continuing. "I wanted to be, but I was only sixteen and just not good enough at the time."

I didn't say anything because I knew he had a lot more to say.

"Everything I thought had been my life…they were actually things that happened to my bestfriend Zack. He was a SOLDIER, first class and I was just a Shinra guard. He was killed trying to protect me. I guess I went a little nuts and in my head I became him…in my head I was a SOLDIER, first class."

With his lips near my ear, Cloud continued to spill his guts, telling me everything…how he defeated Sephiroth after the great SOLDIER general went on a killing rampage, burning Nibelheim down to the ground and how Sephiroth had stabbed him through the stomach…the painful and inhumane, coma-induced Mako experiments conducted on him for five years by Shinra's Professor Hojo…the way he didn't care about anything after that, except what job paid him the most money…the time he joined AVALANCHE and the conflicts with the Shinra corporation when AVALANCHE went on their bombing missions to destroy the Mako reactors in Midgar…all the chaos and death that seemed to follow him around wherever he went in his travels, eliminating the creatures fabricated by Shinra's Mako reactors…how he couldn't remember things that happened to him and all the confusion in his head of what was his reality or something he remembered happening to someone else…the manner in which Sephiroth took control of him, forcing him to nearly kill the other members of his team, his friends…a flower girl named Aeris, whom he reluctantly confessed to once have feelings for, and the guilt he felt for not being able to stop Sephiroth from killing her…the seclusion he forced himself into over a year ago when he was inflicted with the deadly Geostigma disease and how he felt unfit to help in any way against the threat of three clones looking to resurrect Sephiroth…and when Sephiroth was successfully brought back to life, Cloud fought against him and was victorious, only to be shot in the back by one of the three clones.

Cloud didn't spare me any of the details. I let him talk without interruption, letting him get everything out of his system and to release whatever emotions he needed to spill…desperation and fear, bitterness and hate, anger and rage, sadness and tears…He poured his heart out without shame as he relived the tragedies of his life.

All I could do to comfort him was rub the back of his neck and run my fingers through his damp hair as he continued to hold me. I even cried with him when he shed tears over the senseless deaths of people he knew…especially his mother.

By the time he was finished, I was mentally exhausted. He had been through a lifetime of tragedies in only twenty-four years of his life. I couldn't imagine how anyone so young could have survived what he went through. He was literally dead…killed…twice and was brought back to life through miraculous circumstances that were beyond his control. The first was when Professor Hojo did the Mako experiments on him. The second was after being shot in the back and waking up in the pool of water in the church we had just been to.

Why wasn't this guy seeing a psychiatrist? Tammy warned me he was mentally a mess, but now I understood why he was reluctant to talk about himself. There was nothing normal in his life…no happy moments with his family…no normal childhood years to fall back and smile on… He had an incredibly disturbing and troubled past that some people simply weren't comfortable with and just didn't want to take the time to fully understand.

It's not that I was emotionally stronger than anyone else by any means…I was still bothered by his unsettling past. But I knew that deep down inside, Cloud was a good person. It didn't matter to me what he had been involved in before. It was the past. As long as he was accepting, I would be there to help him move forward.

I spoke for the first time since he started talking over an hour ago. "I'm sure your friends have probably told you a million times that you couldn't possibly be in control of every situation. But I'm telling you right now, Cloud, everything you did was unselfish…for the sake of others…for the rest of the world. It's too bad not everyone out there knows the truth."

"No…I don't want that kind of recognition," he whispered.

So he was humble afterall. "I understand."

"So now you know the truth. I was never in SOLDIER, just a mercenary looking for whatever jobs could pay me the most."

To me Cloud was no mercenary…he was a hero.

"I wouldn't blame you if you dumped me now," he added with bitterness. "You probably wanna run as far away from me as possible."

I brushed my face against the side of his and feeling the tears on his cheeks only made me want to cry with him again. "No, Cloud. I'm not going to run away."

Cloud sighed and there was a long pause before he spoke again. "I knew you would be different from everyone else, Tess." He turned his face toward mine and our noses touched. "I'm glad I took the chance."

I tilted my face slightly to the right, nudging his nose, prompting him to kiss me. "I don't care what you did, Cloud. I want to be with you."

When his lips touched mine, they were trembling a bit. He breathed and I inhaled his warm musky breath with a strangled moan. His lips softly closed over mine with more confidence and he held the kiss before releasing and continuing with small, slow kisses. The uncertainty was gone as he lightly brushed his tongue over my lower lip with each kiss.

I opened my mouth, giving him the invitation he seemed to be looking for and he slowly dipped his tongue inside. As I raised mine up to touch his, my stomach clenched tightly in glorious bliss. This was the first time in my life I had ever been so turned on with any guy. Not that I had been with very many. Which made me think of another subject I would have to bring up soon. But I didn't want to think about that just yet. Not while his mouth tasted so good.

Soon I was able to drown out the rumbling thunder and the loud pinging of the rain on concrete. The only sound came from our lips and heated breathing.

After several minutes of slow, wet tongue stroking, we pulled away to catch our breath, foreheads leaning together. I couldn't see his face in the darkness, but I knew his eyes were closed or I would have seen their soft blue-green glow, which was apparently an effect of the Mako injections. My hands drifted down his shoulders and to his chest. I gripped his soaked shirt to pull him to my mouth again.

Cloud enthusiastically obliged with a groan. His right hand moved up to the back of my head, holding it there as he plundered the depths of my mouth with his tongue. It wasn't slow this time, he was hungry and charged up.

I was just as hungry and on fire as I began sucking on his tongue. He seemed to like it and then did the same to me when I slid my tongue into his mouth. As we continued to kiss this way, exchanging oral fluids, sucking and licking and biting, I moaned in his mouth, just to let him know how good it was. And I got to suck on that plump lower lip, relishing in its fullness and the sound of his ardent breath as I did it.

His hands didn't remain still. They moved from my head to my back and up and down along my thighs, which were practically wrapped around him in the position we were sitting.

We waited an extremely long time for the rain to subside, but it didn't matter because we spent all of it kissing passionately on his motorcycle. I couldn't remember the last time I had ever wanted to be making out this long with anybody.

When the rain finally did stop, Cloud reluctantly pulled away. "We should head back. It gets dangerous here late at night."

Panic hit me. "Shadow Creepers?"

"Sometimes," he said as he stroked my cheek with a thumb. "Don't be afraid, Tess. I can handle Shadow Creepers."

We kissed for several more minutes before I went around to mount behind him. Cloud started the engine and then we raced out of Midgar.

* * *

It was after midnight by the time we pulled up in front of the apartment building. He walked me upstairs as usual and we spent a few more minutes kissing at my door. We just didn't want to stop. 

When Cloud released me, he leaned his forehead against mine. "Can I see you again tomorrow?"

"I want to see you, too." I pulled him in for several more minutes of hungry lip sucking. God, he tasted so good.

Finally he pulled away, looking down and releasing a heavy breath. His glowing eyes came up to lock on mine. "I better…I better go."

"Bye, Cloud." I hated to see him leave. Now that I experienced this with him, the deal was sealed. He was so addicting, I couldn't get enough and couldn't wait to see him again.

He backed up toward the stairway. "Bye." Finally he turned around and headed down.

I released the breath I was holding and had to lean against the wall because my knees were threatening to buckle underneath me. I couldn't believe we had spent over two hours making out. My lips were swollen and in pain from all the wonderful abuse. But now that we had gotten through it, I would no longer feel intimidated by his presence. Well, I would still feel excited everytime I saw him, but at least I wouldn't feel awkward if I wanted to just reach out and touch his face. We were in the more serious phase of a relationship, when real feelings started to surface.

It was happening too fast…I knew it. But I couldn't help myself. Cloud Strife was irresistible. I was hopelessly falling head over heels for him. For the first time in my life I was seriously considering going all the way with a guy. But in the back of my head I wondered how mentally stable he was. With everything that happened to him, he was like a ticking bomb, likely to explode at anytime. My biggest fear was that I'd lose him to his past and no amount of encouragement could ever make things right.


	6. Expressions

A/N – Thanks for the reviews and PMs as usual. Hopefully you'll find this chapter entertaining. Please note there's a bit of adult material towards the end, just a warning.

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Expressions**

Sunday, August 11

In the morning I came out of the shower and heard my cellphone ringing in the bedroom. I rushed over to grab it, knowing who it was. "Cloud," I said after putting the phone to my ear.

"Did I wake you?" he asked groggily.

"No, I just got out of the shower."

"Thanks for the visual," he teased.

"Are you still in bed?"

"Someone kept me out pretty late last night."

I heard him stretching and smiled to myself as I recalled the previous night's make out session. "Someone kept me out late, too." My heart swelled that I was the first thing he thought about when he woke up this morning.

"I have a few deliveries today. All in Edge. I should be done by six."

"Poor baby, working on a Sunday. How about I make you dinner tonight?"

"Now that's something to look forward to."

"Will you eat sushi if I make it?"

"You forget, I'll eat anything."

I reclined on the bed and sighed. "Last night was really nice, Cloud."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that," he quietly replied.

"I can't wait to do it again."

"Stop reading my mind."

"See if you can read mine." An image of him came to my head, bare from the waist up and I was running my hands over his chest and touching his muscled arms. Then my hand went down inside the front of his pants.

"Why don't you tell me instead?" he teased with a touch of amusement.

I laughed. "You'll think I have a dirty mind."

"Can't be any worse than phone sex."

"Well, it's not about you rubbing my feet. It's more of what I'm doing to you."

"Hm, I can think of a lot of things." Just then I heard him grunt and then heard the squeak of his bed as if he was moving quickly. "Damn, we'll have to put that on hold. Marlene's knocking on my door."

"Oops."

"I'll call you when I'm on my way over tonight."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Cloud called me at 5:30. "I should be there in two minutes." 

"Okay." When I hung up, I ran into the bathroom to make sure I looked okay. A little lipstick and a shake of my hair, just a dab of perfume behind the ears. A white blouse and a gray mini-skirt made up my outfit. Was I over-dressed? Heck with it, if he was dressed casually then I could always change after dinner.

I went back into the kitchen and began bringing things to the dining room table. The sushi I made looked pretty good for a change. I placed chopsticks down beside Cloud's plate and then added a fork in case he didn't know how to use them. A bottle of red wine would go good with the raw tuna in the sushi. But I had beer, too, in case Cloud didn't feel like drinking wine.

Soft music played from Tammy's stereo to set the mood. As a last touch I lit a candle in the center of the table and turned the lights down low.

As I looked at my handy work I wondered if Cloud would read too much into it. What if he thought I was going overboard?

The buzzer went off, telling me Cloud was waiting downstairs for me to buzz him in. I hit the button and opened the door.

Cloud came jogging up the stairs. He had on black slacks and a nice untucked black and tan shirt. "Hi." He greeted me with an affectionate hug and a long kiss.

I inhaled his freshly showered, clean scent. Then I took his hand and led him inside.

He took one look at the dining table and whistled. "Wow. No one's ever gone to this much trouble for me." As I led him to his seat at the table, he glanced around. "Where's Tammy?"

"Kyle's parents are at his house, so she went there." I poured him some wine, dished four pieces of sushi on his plate and went to sit at the opposite end of the table. "Dig in."

Cloud used the chopsticks and wolfed down all four pieces before I even started on my second one. "It's really good, Tess." Then he curiously looked at me across the table. "But…what're you doing all the way over there?"

I frowned as I realized there was no reason for all the formality. He obviously wasn't used to it anyway. "You know, you're right." I grabbed my glass and my plate and moved to the chair right next to him. After picking up the plate with the rest of the sushi, I looked up. "More?"

"Yes, please."

I gave him four more pieces and watched him eat them one at a time. Funny how he could use chopsticks but found it difficult using a fork. It made me smile.

He looked back at me as he chewed his food. "What're you smiling about?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. I just like watching you eat."

He gave me a funny look.

A little while later, we finished off the wine and moved to the couch.

I rested my elbow on the back of the couch with my head in my hand and remained quiet as I watched him. In the short time I had known Cloud, I realized that his mind was a jumble of random thoughts and he usually just said things without really thinking about it. I could tell he was trying to maintain his discipline around me, but I didn't want him to think he needed to watch what he said for fear of offending me in some way. It took a lot to offend me. But when he was quiet and looked so deep in thought, it made me wonder what was going through his mind. What was bothering him so much that he couldn't put his thoughts into words?

I scooted closer to him and he turned his face to look at me through his bangs. I reached up to push them aside, but they fell right back down. We both smiled at that.

His smile didn't linger very long as he looked away again.

"Is everything okay?" I finally asked.

He blinked a few times. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Why so quiet all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. "Just thinking."

"Oh, I thought maybe it was the sushi."

"The sushi was great."

It felt like he was responding because I was forcing him to. I wasn't sure what was going on in his head all of a sudden, but I had waited all day to see him and now all I wanted was to kiss him. I scooted even closer and reached up to turn his face toward me. When I started to lean in for a kiss, I was relieved to see he wasn't resisting me.

Our lips met and it started out slow, just like the night before when we were stranded in Midgar because of the rain. A few minutes into it, Cloud had me down on the couch. We licked and sucked and nipped each other's lips and tongues as if we were starved. I was out of breath and was glad to see I wasn't the only one.

What surprised me though was that I didn't even realize the position we were in forced my skirt to hike up nearly to my waist while his thigh was pressed between my legs. In a moment of panic, I was afraid he'd want more now that we were laying this way, but his hands only strayed to caress my arms.

Then just as quickly as it started, Cloud abruptly pulled away. His eyes briefly drifted down to where my white panties were exposed and I modestly pulled my skirt down as I sat up.

"Sorry…" he said as he ran a hand across his forehead.

"It's okay." Now what? Why did he stop?

His brows were drawn together and it looked like something was really bothering him.

But what? He had been fine during dinner. What had happened between then and the time we sat down on the couch? "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He suddenly sounded annoyed. "There's nothing wrong. Why do you keep asking me?"

His tone surprised me. "I don't know, Cloud. Maybe because you look like you're in some other dimension. Where are you?"

Silence. I thought I was getting used to it, but not when he started acting defensive. Now his silence was pissing me off.

"I was thinking about Aeris," he finally said.

My heart instantly plummeted. Aeris was the girl he had loved a few years ago. But she was gone and he still thought about her. That made me wonder about the depth of their relationship. Did they sleep together? Did he ask her to marry him?

"The way I felt about her…" Cloud looked up at me. "…I'm afraid to feel that way again."

The silence had been better than knowing how much he loved this girl. Was he going to break up with me? Was he going to tell me he would never get over her? What was he trying to tell me?

He looked down with a frown. "I never told her how I felt. If I had…then maybe…I don't know."

I thought maybe he was done talking about her and we could go on to something else. But he still had that haunted, sorrowful look on his face.

"Sephiroth…he tried to make me kill her. I almost did it. I had my sword up. She trusted me. She didn't even move, even when she knew I didn't have control of myself. Barret and Tifa…they had to talk me out of it. Then Sephiroth came down and stuck her with his sword. He killed her…and I couldn't stop him." He balled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth. "I _didn't_ stop him!"

"Cloud…"

He froze for a few seconds, the anger on his face threatening to boil over. "I can't stop thinking about it."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was a painful memory, there was no doubt about it. But why did he have to think about it now, when we were alone together. "I'm not going to pretend and say I know how you feel because I don't." I needed to know if there was room in his heart for me…or was I wasting my time? "Look at me, Cloud."

He slowly lifted his eyes toward me.

"I don't ever want you to feel like you can't talk to me because I'm here for you. But you're forcing me to compete with a ghost." I reached for his hand. "I'm not saying you should stop thinking about Aeris. I know she was someone important to you. I just want you to look into your heart and tell me if we have a chance."

He pushed the hair out of his eyes and looked down. "I don't know."

"Then what're we doing, Cloud? I told you I wasn't looking for some little fling."

"I don't have all the answers."

"You had no intention of getting serious with me."

"No…I mean…" He got up and shook his head. "I'm just confused."

"There's nothing to be confused about. Either you want to be with me or you don't. So which is it?"

His silence was loud and clear. Maybe he thought things were moving too fast between us…or maybe he decided he didn't want to be tied down.

I couldn't believe what I was about to say to him. "Then maybe we should stop seeing each other."

His head jerked back up. "No, Tess!" But then he frowned and looked down again, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I don't know what I want."

"Make a decision, Cloud."

His expression turned angry. "Don't make me choose between you and Aeris."

I frowned at him. "I didn't realize there was a choice here. I meant for you to make a decision about us. Do we have a chance? Well, now I know you're making this to be me against Aeris." As I continued to watch the troubled emotions dancing around his face, my stomach was clenching painfully. I hated to see him this way, but I couldn't help him if he didn't even know what he wanted.

"I don't wanna fight with you, Tess."

"Then why'd you bring her up? Don't you know its not right to tell your current girlfriend about how much you loved your ex-girlfriend?"

"She's _not_ an _ex_-girlfriend," he yelled.

His tone starled me. "I think you should just leave."

"Fine. I don't need this shit." He started to walk to the door, but he paused and I thought he was going to turn around and come back. But then he continued on, opened the door and walked out. The door slowly and quietly closed behind him.

I sighed heavily and put a hand over my mouth, feeling tears stinging my eyes. Why did things always have to be so complicated? Why couldn't I just find a guy who had no baggage…no skeletons in his closet. I closed my eyes and groaned as I sickeningly wondered if he had thought about Aeris the whole time he was with me…pretending it was her he was kissing. I was jealous of the feelings he had for her.

Well, it didn't matter now anyway. It was probably over between us.

* * *

Monday, August 12

I had plans the following morning with Cid and Shera. He promised me a ride in his airship.

As I drove out of Edge and headed for their house just beyond the city, I couldn't stop thinking about Cloud. In fact I barely got any sleep. Maybe I had been too harsh on him. Afterall, Aeris wasn't even alive. It wasn't like there was any chance he'd fall back into her arms. But why couldn't he give me a straight answer about us? It only made me think he didn't want a relationship with me.

I thought about calling him…and at least eight times I even had his number punched in on my cellphone, but I didn't hit the Send button. I had hoped maybe he would call me…but he didn't.

When I arrived at the Highwind house, I pretended nothing was wrong and greeted Cid and Shera with a cheerful smile.

Fifteen minutes later we were airborne. The airship was amazing. Her entire nose was made of glass so it was a thrill to be standing on it and feeling as if at any second I would fall to the ground so below.

Cid was full of stories and each location had its own tale. The battle with Bahamut in Edge's Central Square. Rude and Reno's tunnel explosion to buy Cloud time to catch up to Kadaj. The North Cave where Rufus Shinra's people found Jenova's head. A final showdown in Midgar at Shinra's demolished headquarters between Cloud and Kadaj and shortly after between Cloud and Sephiroth. I knew the stories because Cloud had already told me everything. But I let Cid have his fun as I pretended it was the first time I heard the tales. Plus I liked the way he told his stories because his colorful language just made me laugh.

"You should start a business," I teased. "Cid's Tours. People would pay good gils to see this."

"Nah, I ain't got the patience," he replied, a cigarette dangling precariously from his lip. "If somebody pissed me off, I'd toss their sorry ass right out the fuckin' hatch."

I laughed and Cid's wife, Shera smiled with a shrug. The woman was a saint to put up with him on a daily basis. Whatever their history was together, it had to be an interesting one. I would have to ask Tammy if she knew their story.

We visited Barret at his oil rig. It was a huge monstrosity between Midgar and Kalm. He was ecstatic because Shera had lunch for him. He was another character I quickly grew to like. The big lug acted tough, but he was as gentle as a pussycat when it came to his daughter, Marlene. I learned that the only reason Tifa took care of her most of the time was that Barret didn't want the child growing up in a rough environment. He knew Tifa would teach Marlene the right etiquette.

Our next stop was in the mountains south of Midgar. There I met Nanaki, or Red as Cid called him. Red had been used in lab experiments when Cloud and the others found and rescued him years ago. The lion-like creature joined their cause against Shinra when the company was still trying to siphon energy from the Lifestream. Red was frightening up close, with the strange tattoos on his massive forelegs and the flame on the tip of his tail. Not to mention he had only one eye…his right one was gone, but I was too afraid to ask what happened to it. I wasn't sure what kind of animal Red was, but maybe he wasn't one at all. Since when did animals actually speak?

Later Cid took the airship further inland, saying he needed to take care of some troublesome monsters terrorizing the railroad between Edge and Kalm. I sat with Shera and watched wide-eyed as Cid sent the ship into a nauseating dive when he spotted the creatures. With cannons blazing, the two strange-looking, giant centipedes were dead in seconds.

"How do you like that shit up your ass?!" yelled Cid. "Ha ha!" And then he calmly lit another cigarette.

I swear he must have smoked about three packs of cigarettes throughout the day. I never saw him without one hanging from his mouth.

* * *

At around 5:30 we headed back. 

As Cid hovered the airship above the landing pad next to the house, Shera pointed out the window. "There's Cloud."

The sound of his name forced me out of my thoughts and I had to refrain from jumping out of my seat.

"I hope he wasn't waiting too long," she added.

"Little prick probably can't wait to see his _girlfriend_," Cid taunted.

My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was having a heart attack.

The ship lowered down on the landing pad. I could see Cloud leaning against Fenrir parked just beyond the yellow lines painted on the ground.

As the ship died down, Shera got off first and greeted Cloud with a kiss on the cheek. I saw the blush on his face as she walked away.

"Okay," said Cid. "Time to get off."

I was afraid to. But I couldn't stay on the airship indefinitely so I followed Cid out.

Cid put an arm around my shoulder as he walked me in Cloud's direction. "I brought her back safe and sound."

Cloud didn't look amused. He didn't look like anything. The expression on his face was totally neutral.

Cid removed his arm and made a foul sound with his mouth. "Well, don't go getting all soft on me now." He walked away with a scowl. "Fucking attitude is worse than a goddamned Death Dealer sometimes."

When Cid was out of earshot, Cloud took a step toward me. His expression changed. He looked so miserable, it was pitiful.

"How'd you know I was here?" I asked, making no attempt to move any closer to him.

"You told me the other day."

"Oh…that's right."

He frowned as he looked at me. But he just stood there, not saying a word.

It was apparently up to me to make amends, if that's what he was here for. "I'm sorry, Cloud."

"I am, too."

I bit my lower lip and itched to run into his arms. But I wasn't sure where we stood. Was he just looking to apologize and then try to be friends?

Cloud closed the gap between us. "I don't wanna break up, Tess."

That's all I needed to hear. "I don't either." I slid my arms around his neck as he folded his arms around me.

He hugged me tightly. "I don't wanna make the same mistakes I made before. I need you to help me get through this. One day at a time. Will you give me another chance?"

"You don't even have to ask." I released him and pulled back to bring us nose to nose.

"I was a fucking jerk last night." He tilted his head and kissed me. "I'm sorry."

One kiss led to another and pretty soon we were making out where we stood.

"Hey!"

Cloud and I parted and turned toward the voice.

Cid had his hands on his hips and looked a little pissed. "Don't be thinking about fucking around on my Launch Pad! You can go home and do that shit!" He shook his head in aggravation. "Now get in the house before Shera's dinner gets cold."

Cloud rolled his eyes and took my hand as we walked toward the house.

"Is he always like this?" I asked Cloud.

"Actually this is him on a good day."

After dinner we all helped Shera clear the kitchen table. Then we sat back down to have a couple beers. Cid, Shera and I did most of the talking, while Cloud just sat quietly drinking his beer and only responding when directly spoken to.

"Barret and I are heading out to the marshes in a couple days," said Cid. He was surrounded by a cloud of smoke from his hundred and fiftieth cigarette. "See if we can smash that fucking slimy Zolom to smithereens. You want in?"

Cloud shook his head. "Knock yourself out, Cid. Not interested right now."

Cid waved him away. "Ahh, goddamned wimp."

"Wanna step outside? You'll be eating those words."

I enjoyed listening to them banter. It might have sounded harsh, but I knew it was light-hearted and non-threatening.

"Oh, that's right. You've got a girlfriend now," Cid continued to taunt. "You women know how squeeze our balls just the right way to get what you want."

I laughed at Cid. When I looked at Cloud he wasn't laughing, but he was smiling a little.

The conversation soon turned to Costa Del Sol and our upcoming trip there.

Cid was telling us about some places to see. "You have to check out a place called the Limelight. If you like to dance, then that's the place to go. Shera and me, we've cut a rug quite a few times in that place."

Shera gave me a wink. "Make sure to get Cloud on the dance floor. I've seen him dance and the boy can really move."

Cloud blushed and groaned. "Don't tell her that, Shera. I can't dance for shit."

We shared a few more laughs as the night wound down on us. Cloud and I left the Highwind household at 9:00, me in my car and Cloud following behind me on Fenrir. He followed me home and came upstairs.

I changed into sweats and a teeshirt and joined him on the couch where he was watching TV with Tammy. I curled up next to him. "Can you stay for alittle while?"

"Yeah." His eyes shifted over my shoulder, in Tammy's direction, before he pressed his lips against mine for a brief kiss. Then he took off his shoes and put his stinky feet up on the coffee table.

I scooted down and laid my head in his lap. My eyelids started getting heavy as he played with my earlobe.

* * *

I woke up when I felt myself being lifted. But I was so tired I thought I was still dreaming. 

Cloud carried me into my bedroom and laid me in my bed before kissing me on the lips. "I'm going, Tess."

"No," I protested and reached for him.

He leaned in again and opened his mouth to my persistent tongue.

Why did he have to taste so good? And why did he have such a luscious lower lip? I loved sucking on it. I pulled him down on the bed with me and the fact that he didn't resist meant he really didn't want to leave.

Cloud covered me with half of his body and I thrilled in his heat and his scent. After several minutes of lip and tongue sucking, he moved to the side of my neck. He stroked my skin with his tongue and left heated kisses wherever he went. Then he came back up to my mouth.

When I moaned against his lips, his hand slowly drifted up to my breast. He gave it a gentle, uncertain squeeze before tracing the outline of my nipple over my teeshirt with first his thumb and then his other fingers.

No one had ever touched me this way before. The sensations were new and exciting. I sighed a bit erratically as he squeezed my breast again, kneading it slowly.

He spent awhile touching and teasing my nipple over my teeshirt until he had me moaning softly in pleasure.

I was so hot by that time I started grinding against his leg.

"Damn, I need to stop," he said huskily but his fingers continued to tease my nipple. "I should go."

"I don't want you to go."

"I have to."

"No, stay with me."

He pulled back unsurely to look in my eyes.

I raised my head to kiss him. "Please…stay here with me."

"You trust me?"

I kissed him again. "Yes."

"Okay."

I was elated that he agreed and as he got off me, I reached for the covers at the foot of the bed to pull them up over me.

Cloud went to the door and was about to close it, but then stopped.

I heard Tammy whispering outside the door.

"Yeah, I'm staying," Cloud replied to her. "Goodnight." He closed the door and as he walked back to the bed, he pulled off his polo shirt and then undid his jeans. When he slid them off, he was left in nothing but white boxers.

I marveled at the sight before me as he came to bed. A half naked Cloud…God, he could stir me up just looking at him.

Cloud slipped underneath the covers and scooted closer to lay next to me, rolling on his side in my direction.

When he pulled me into his arms, I sighed in contentment at the wonderful heat his body gave off. "Mmm…this is nice," I said.

I thought about telling him then that I had never been with a man before. But I wasn't sure how he'd react and I didn't want to spoil the evening…or the moment. Expecting him to start groping me again, I was a little surprised that he was content to just lay there and hold me. Finally I closed my eyes and let his warmth and scent lull me to sleep.


	7. Secrets

_A/N – I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks so I may not have access to email to respond to reviews. But please continue to let me know what you think. I like hearing from you all._

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Secrets**

Tuesday, August 13

Something woke me up and I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was 2:30. I turned my head to look toward Cloud. He was lying asleep on his stomach, his face turned in my direction.

I started to close my eyes but heard the sound again.

Cloud's lips were moving. Small mumbling sounds were coming out of his mouth, like he was trying to talk. "Seph…Sephiroth…" He was dreaming. "No…" he mumbled. "…Not…like you…" Suddenly he started to shake rather violently and he whined softly as his face grimaced in what looked like pain.

I didn't know what to do, whether or not to wake him. Instead I moved closer, squeezing myself beneath him and tucking his head against my chest. He immediately stopped shaking and quieted as I slowly ran my fingers through his hair.

Cloud stirred and moaned. His hand drifted up along the side of my body and slipped underneath my teeshirt to rest on my bare breast.

I held my breath as he rubbed his thumb around my nipple. When he stopped and sounded like he was asleep again, I closed my eyes. But it took a while to fall back asleep because all I could think about was his hand on my boob.

* * *

When I woke up again it was 9:30. Cloud was still sound asleep, curled up on his side next to me. I stretched and then rolled closer toward him to kiss the side of his neck. He smelled a little musty, but it didn't bother me. I kissed his neck again and he stirred, protesting with a groan. But he went back to sleep. 

With a yawn I crawled out of bed and went into the kitchen to start the coffee machine. On my way to the bathroom, I paused in front of my bedroom door. Cloud rolled onto his back and stretched. The sheets shifted off of him and I noticed the front of his boxers were tenting out a bit.

I bit my lower lip at the thought of his morning erection and reluctantly went into the bathroom. After turning the water on in the shower to let it warm up, I took care of my morning business and stripped out of my clothes. By that time the water was warm and I stepped into the shower.

Five minutes later as I was shampooing my hair, I heard someone walk into the bathroom. Since there was only one other person in the apartment, it had to be Cloud. I slid the shower door aside to poke my head out and was greeted with a sight I didn't see everyday.

Cloud was peeing in the toilet…right in front of my eyes

"Cloud!" I slammed the shower door.

"Sorry, I have to take a piss."

My eyes narrowed and I slid the door open again just in time to see him shake his penis before stuffing it back in his boxers.

When he looked up and caught me watching him, he gave me a reprimanding look. "Enjoy the show?"

I slammed the door again when he started walking toward the shower.

He came up to the frosted glass and lightly rapped on it.

I had nothing to cover myself with…except a six inch washcloth. "Who is it?"

"It's the plumber, I came to…inspect your pipes."

I played along and slid the door open a few inches. "There's nothing wrong with my pipes." When he tried to sneak a peak around the door, I closed it again.

"Hurry up, I gotta go soon."

"You have deliveries today?" I asked through the shower door.

"Yeah, quite a few."

"Oh."

"You wanna come with?"

I slid the door open a crack again and smiled. "Can I?"

"If you want to," he said with a shrug. "It'll be pretty boring for you."

"I don't care."

"I'm gonna go home and change. I'll be back to get you in fifteen minutes. Okay?"

"Okay."

He walked out of the bathroom and continued to shower.

* * *

Throughout much of the day, I rode with Cloud as he made numerous stops, either picking up or dropping off things he had stored in the back compartment of his motorcycle. The boxes were fairly small and I was curious to know what the hell was in them. But I just kept my mouth shut and let him go in and out of the different places. 

As I did at all the other stops, I sat on Fenrir while Cloud went inside to conduct his business. At one particular stop, he seemed to be taking a long time so I decided to scoot deeper into the seat where he normally sat and see how it felt to be in control of such a machine.

With my feet on the ground, I tried to straighten the bike but it was so heavy I couldn't even budge it, so I left it leaning on the kickstand. My eyes drifted down to the controls in front of the seat. I recognized the gas gauge and the speedometer and some other gauges. I turned to the left handlebar where I had seen him shift gears and accelerate. There was something else there, a switch of some kind.

Without even thinking, and forgetting that Fenrir was more than just transportation for Cloud, I reached out and hit the switch. I nearly jumped out of the seat when the front panels on both sides popped open with a metallic clang. When I was over the initial shock, I stared with my mouth open. Sheathed inside, three on each side, were some kind of swords and they were enormous.

"Holy shit," I gasped and started to reach for one of them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" called out a familiar voice. "Don't touch that."

I quickly retracted my hand and turned in time to see Cloud walking toward me.

His look was guarded. "Trying to get your foot cut off?"

"I wasn't going to pull it out." I scooted backward on the seat to give him room.

Cloud mounted and pushed the switch on the handlebar. The sides of the bike slammed shut and the swords were concealed again. He turned to look over his shoulder at me. "Since you're so curious, I'll show them to you later. But don't touch any of the buttons, Tess. You could have shot somebody."

"I know. I'm sorry. I won't touch anything again."

* * *

After his last delivery, Cloud drove us outside the city and pulled to a stop in an open area. I figured the only reason we were out here was so he could show me his swords without the possibility of anyone watching. 

I dismounted and took a couple steps away from the motorcycle as he hit the switch to pop open the sides, revealing his weapons again.

Cloud pulled out a large sword with a long handle. Then he pulled out another one with a different kind of handle. After dismounting he went in the rear compartment and did something before walking several feet away, a sword in each hand. Then he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Don't move from there, okay?"

I nodded and leaned back against the large boulder behind me.

He raised the larger of the swords and spun it around over his head. A blue light emanated from the blade and the next thing I knew he was doing an aerial leap to a boulder at least fifteen feet away. He slashed the sword down and the boulder shattered into a million pieces. From there he did a mid-air somersault and landed effortlessly in a crouch.

I stared wide-eyed as he rose up and lifted one sword up over his head. The blue light appeared again. He lowered the sword as if he was going to slam it on the ground, but stopped short. A wave of blue light rolled out of the blade and traveled the ground toward another large boulder. It exploded into powder.

Cloud straightened up and turned to me. When he started to walk back toward Fenrir, he motioned for me to approach as he placed the smaller sword together with the bigger sword, where it clicked in place. "All of them can be used separately, but they all come together, like this." He demonstrated by taking the other very different swords and attaching each of them to the larger one. He held the handle out to me with a smile.

I cautiously wrapped my hand around it and when he let it go, I found it to be so heavy the blade slammed into the ground, nearly dragging me to my knees with it. But Cloud caught me before I fell.

I let him take the sword handle back. "So…is there like a button to make the lightning shoot out?"

Cloud moved back to the compartment and reached in. He pulled out two glowing balls. One was green and the other was blue. "This is called materia. They contain elements from the Lifestream that give the user special powers to do things no normal human being can do."

Just hearing him talk about superhuman abilities was making me delirious. And the way he leaned that huge, heavy sword on his shoulder…God, I wanted to tear off his clothes.

"My mom has those in a bowl on the fireplace mantle," I said, referring to what he called materia. "She bought them from a merchant back in Kalm, but I don't think she has a clue what they really are."

"They're just decoration unless you know how to channel the power in them."

Cloud reached back into the compartment and equipped his left wrist with a leather and metal gauntlet. He put the green ball into a slot in the wristband and stepped forward. He closed his eyes briefly and as he raised both arms up slowly, he opened his eyes again and pushed his hands outward.

Lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere and hit the boulder which instantly exploded into chunks.

He repeated the movement and a bush a few yards away went up in flames.

I had to pick my jaw up off the ground before I could even look at him again.

"There are very few people in this world that know how to use the power of materia. I don't show this to just anybody, Tess."

Apparently he entrusted this information to me, believing I wouldn't blab it to everyone I knew. I cleared my throat, trying to make light of it all. "Well, if you wanted to impress me, Cloud…all you really had to do was a thirty second handstand."

He took my hand and pulled me to him before leaning in to plant a kiss on my lips. "I can do one for thirty _minutes_ in my sleep."

"So you think maybe I can set a bush on fire if I wore that wristband?"

He smiled. "I can teach you if you really want to learn."

"I would love it."

"When we get back from Costa Del Sol, okay?"

"Deal." I couldn't even describe the excitement I felt at the prospect of him teaching me to use the power of materia. But I knew such power couldn't be taken for granted. He used it only in extreme circumstances and not just to show off.

* * *

At around 3:00 we went to his place. Cloud ran out to get some supplies Tifa needed for the bar and left me chatting with her over a beer in the tavern. 

"Okay, what's your secret?" Tifa asked me out of the blue.

"My secret?"

"Cloud's smiles are few and far between, but he's been smiling a lot lately. Not to mention I've never seen him so committed before. Seriously, what did you do to him?"

"I haven't done anything except maybe let him be himself."

She gave me a curious look. "So he told you things about himself?"

I nodded and took a swig of my beer. "He told me everything."

"And you're still here."

"Whatta you mean?"

"He hasn't had many steady girlfriends for obvious reasons."

"Why not?"

"All he has to do is mention Mako injections or AVALANCHE and most girls run like hell, much less wait around to find out anything else about him."

"I don't understand that, Tifa. Cloud's done nothing wrong. Why do people belittle him for his accomplishments?"

She gave me a genuine smile. "They just don't understand him, I guess.."

I decided I liked Tifa, only because she was very protective of Cloud. "Well, I can't say I understand him all that much either. He's so complicated. I just get so frustrated when he doesn't say anything."

"Tell me about it." She sighed. "You'll quickly learn to have patience with him. He's generally quiet and doesn't say much unless he's playing leader on a mission. But then again you can always smack him upside the head. That usually helps."

Cloud walked in through the front doors, carrying a box of what Tifa had needed. He put the box behind the bar and then came right up to me. He turned my barstool around to face him and immediately fused his lips to mine, greedily sucking on my tongue.

I was surprised by this sudden boldness. He usually didn't show this kind of affection in front of others.

Tifa cleared her throat. "We have perfectly good rooms upstairs, you know."

Cloud pulled away bashfully. "I'm gonna wash up. I'll be down in a few minutes." He turned and sprinted up the stairs behind the bar.

I turned to Tifa, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, I was teasing. I'm just not used to seeing Cloud so…affectionate…with anyone, not since…."

I frowned a little because I knew she stopped herself from saying Aeris's name, thinking maybe I didn't know. "It's okay, Tifa, he told me about her."

"They weren't meant to be, you know," Tifa said softly. "Even if Cloud had saved her, it never would have worked between them. She was the last of the Ancients. Her destiny laid elsewhere. Not with him."

"But he still thinks about her. I get worried sometimes…"

"You don't have to worry."

I sighed and looked down. "We got into a big fight about her the other night. I thought we were through."

"I think you're misinterpreting what he's feeling. It's true, he loved her…but his regrets are not because he wants to be with her. He couldn't save her and it just tears him up inside."

"But I feel like I'm fighting a constant battle to get his attention."

She frowned with a smile. "Are you kidding? First of all, he's never been late for you, which is a miracle in itself. Secondly, he normally doesn't do anything but work on his motorcycle when he's got nothing else to do and so far he's been with you almost every night since you started going out. Am I right?"

"Yeah, I suppose…"

"And lastly, Cloud's not the type of guy to just sit around and chit chat on the phone. Hell, I'm lucky he even listens to my messages sometimes. But he's on his phone with you all the time. It's obvious he's crazy about you."

I wasn't quite so sure about that last statement. But since Tifa was probably the only one who understood Cloud's mental meltdowns better than anyone else, I thought I could confide in her. "I need to ask you something personal."

She gave me a curious look.

"Do you think he would get freaked out if…" I took a deep breath and released it slowly. "…if he knew I had never been with a man?"

She gave me a frown. "Well, didn't he spend the night with you last night?"

"Yeah, but…nothing happened."

She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Okay. So why do you think he'd be freaked out?"

"I don't know. Maybe he'd rather be with someone more…you know…been around the block?"

"Yeah, I don't think so. Not Cloud."

"But how do you know that for sure?"

Tifa looked down with a giggle.

It was contagious and I found myself smiling. "What's so funny?"

"I shouldn't tell you."

"Hey, I told you my secret, you have to share."

She bit her thumbnail as she looked at me. "Okay, but you have to swear to never tell Cloud because I think he'd die of embarrassment if he knew that I knew."

Whatever dirt she had on Cloud, it had to be good. I leaned forward with bated breath. "I swear I won't tell him."

"Okay, you know Cloud likes to play the cool, tough guy. Well, he's always bragging to the guys that he picks up women all the time at this club we all go to sometimes." She held a hand up at my startled expression. "Now wait, before you say anything, let me finish. So he brags to the guys so they all think he's this gigolo. Anyway, a little over a month ago Cloud was sitting right where you are and he was totally wasted."

I smiled, trying to imagine Cloud in such a drunken condition.

"When he drinks scotch, it's like truth serum and it's ten times worse when he's feeling depressed, too. So he was giving me the whole 'woe is me' sob story, that he couldn't find anyone he could hook up with because he didn't trust anyone. Well, he sort of let it slip that he was still…" She glanced left and right and leaned closer to whisper. "…a virgin."

My jaw dropped. "Shut up!" Well that would explain why he was so cautious about touching me. Either he was afraid or maybe he didn't know what to do.

"Hearing that, of course, I felt compelled to drag more out of him," Tifa continued. "So I asked him what the problem was. He said he wasn't going to cheapen it by doing it with just anyone." She leaned forward to whisper. "I think he's just insecure when it comes to fooling around."

"But what about Aeris?"

"There wasn't any time for them to hook up. We were running from one place to another, chasing after Sephiroth."

Well, at least now I knew Cloud hadn't slept with Aeris. Maybe he had wanted to and regretted not doing it. "So do you think he'll tell me he's never been with a woman if I tell him I'm a virgin?"

Tifa snorted. "Yeah, right. Cloud's way too proud to ever admit such a thing. He'll just let you keep on believing he's Mister Macho."

I laughed. "Mister Macho?"

"After hearing his little drunken confession, I knew it was all bullshit about him picking up women."

"So nobody else knows."

"No. He'd be mortified."

We both heard footfalls on the stairs as Cloud came down wearing clean clothes.

He sat down on the bar stool next to me and accepted the beer from Tifa. "Were you talking about me?"

"Yeah," said Tifa. "We were talking about how women chase you around because you're such a stud."

He rolled his eyes and took a swig from the bottle.

"So what's the story on Cid and Shera?" I asked, wanting to change the subject away from Cloud before it put him in a bad mood.

A short while later Reno arrived with ribs he picked up on the way.

As I watched Cloud sucking the barbecue sauce from his fingers, it seemed hard for me to believe that he was so innocent. I just imagined he had had a ton of girlfriends and maybe even had a girl or two in every city during his travels. But that wasn't the case at all. Knowing about this secret innocent side of him made me look at him in an entirely new light and only made him more adorable to me.


	8. Grinding

_A/N – Since I'll be gone for so long, I thought I'd post another chapter. Don't forget to let me know what you think._

_WARNING – Please be advised, this chapter contains graphic adult content._

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Grinding**

Tuesday, August 13 continued

Tammy wanted to go dancing that night so a bunch of us went to Edge's hot spot. It was a place called Illusions and happened to be the place Tifa had mentioned earlier to me. The outside was well-lit up, with four spotlights twirling around and reflecting their light into the sky.

As lit up as the outside was, the inside was as dark as a cave. The only light sources came from the three bars, some florescent track lighting around the edges of the dance floor and the glowing headbands and necklaces worn by the waitresses walking around.

We stood around a bar table near the dance floor and a waitress came by with some florescent green colored drinks in test tubes. "Anyone care for a Mega-shot?"

Reno bought the first round, which seemed to surprise the others. I still didn't know Reno that well, other than he worked for the current head of Shinra, and assumed from everyone's expression that the redhead was tight with his gils.

The shot made me cough after I drank it.

Cloud placed a hand on my back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little strong." I noticed the shot didn't have the same affect on him that it did on me, or the others for that matter, as they sputtered and coughed.

We chatted for awhile and then Tammy and Kyle disappeared into the crowd of dancers, while Tifa and Reno were whispering to each other.

Now would be a good time to see if Cloud said anything about picking up women at this place. "So you used to come here a lot?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Not really."

I raised my eyebrows and gave him a questioning smile. "That's not what I heard."

He frowned. "Says who?"

"Tifa told me you came here to pick up women."

"Tess, stop listening to what everyone says about me. They make things up all the time."

"You told me yourself to talk to Tifa."

"Yeah, but that was before I told you everything about me."

"Everything?"

"Well, not every little thing."

"Like all the women you've had? I never realized you were such a player, Cloud."

He frowned again. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me again?"

"I'm just trying to learn something about you."

"I'm not a player. Let it go, Tess, seriously."

His stern tone was enough to shut me up. But I was certain now that Tifa was right. He wasn't a Ladies Man. It was all bullshit just to brag to the guys.

As the evening progressed, Tammy, Tifa and I were packed in the center of the dance floor with a hundred other people. It was dark with an occasional colored light panning around or strobing in quick flashes. We had been dancing for over an hour. The music was the electronic rap variety with the obscene language that seemed to hit it big on the radio stations lately and was easy to dance to. The chorus kept repeating 'I need you right now'.

Suddenly I felt someone press up against my backside. I whirled around and came face to face with Cloud. For a second I thought it was some other guy and I would have slammed my knee into his private parts. I gave him a curious smile, remembering what he said at Cid's house, about not being able to dance. He shrugged with a smile in response to my silent question.

There really wasn't much to it anyway…just a lot of swaying and grinding.

I took Cloud's hands and put them on my hips. He moved with me, in his own limber flare. And he said he couldn't dance? Hell, he was moving like he had been born to move like that.

Cloud spun me around and pulled me backward against him. While his arms came around me, I reached behind me to rest my hands on his firm thighs. We began to grind together to the beat of the music, moving lower and lower. I wiggled my rear end and he pressed himself harder into me on the way back up. As I leaned my head back against his shoulder, he leaned forward and gently nipped at the side of my neck, breathing on my skin and making it prickle. I imagined if it hadn't been so dark, Cloud wouldn't be acting so boldly in the midst of a crowd. And he was becoming bolder with every passing second.

I realized early on though, when we first walked into the club, there was a lot of public affection going on…to the point of being indecent. So we were actually pretty subdued compared to the other things happening all around us in the near darkness.

It was tame…until his left hand slid down my bare torso and slipped inside the front of my skirt.

I held my breath as his fingers traveled further down and discovered the juncture between my thighs. My innocent boyfriend was trying to cop a feel right in the middle of the dance floor. I let him succeed and he rubbed me over my panties. A moan escaped my throat at the sensations he was eliciting with just a couple of fingers. Damn him, he was making me so hot. I acknowledged his efforts and ground myself harder against his package.

Cloud was quickly becoming aroused and poking me in the butt in a pleasant way. To my disappointment he pulled his hand out and turned me back around to face him.

We stood together, our faces close enough to kiss. His left hand snuck behind my back and pulled me harder up against him, while his other hand squeezed my bare hip. I slid my arms around his neck and we were grinding together again. Finally Cloud opened his mouth against mine and stroked my lips with his tongue. The next thing I knew we were making out like crazy. We weren't even moving anymore. Everything around us seemed to vanish. It was just me and Cloud…alone.

Maybe it was the affect of the fourth Mega-shot I had choked down awhile later, but I didn't remember much of anything until Cloud and I were in the back seat of Kyle's car. I looked at Cloud with a frown. "How'd I get in here?"

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You walked. Don't you remember?"

I shook my foggy head. "Not exactly."

"You should lay off the Mega-shots," he said with a smile.

"I think you're right."

Tammy turned toward us from the front seat. "Hey, I'm gonna stay over at Kyle's tonight."

I acknowledged her with a nod before she faced forward again.

"Where do you want me to drop you off, Cloud?" asked Kyle. "Your place?"

"No, just drop me off with Tess."

"You got it."

Cloud slid closer and put an arm around my shoulder. "You okay now?" he whispered in my ear.

I leaned close to his face to whisper back. "I'm fine, but I can't remember anything after we started kissing on the dance floor."

"We just danced. That was it."

"Did you have your hand down my skirt again?"

A smug smile crept up on his face. "No, but I wanted to."

I had a feeling tonight would be a good time to mention I had never gone there before. I'd tell him when we were alone.

Kyle soon pulled up in front of the apartment building. We all said goodnight and Cloud and I got out and went upstairs.

After I unlocked the door and we went inside, he only gave me enough time to close and lock the door before he pinned me to the wall and began mauling me. What in the world had gotten into him? The other day he didn't even want to kiss me because he was thinking of Aeris. Now he couldn't keep his hands off me.

But I didn't resist him as I feverishly kissed him back.

His hands were everywhere, squeezing my breasts over my top and heading south to grope me over my panties.

I was afraid he'd try and fuck me right there up against the wall. "Cloud…" Kiss…kiss… "I need to…" Kiss…kiss… "…tell you something."

"No…" Kiss…kiss… "No talking, just kiss me."

I wanted to speak, but his mouth tasted so good, I couldn't stop. And his fingers…God, they were between my legs, rubbing me over my panties. "Cloud…"

Cloud finally released my lips and leaned his forehead against mine. We were both out of breath. He slowly withdrew his fingers from between my legs. "Sorry…am I coming on too strong?"

Yeah, but I lied. "No. I just…I need to tell you something." My cheeks instantly heated and I looked down with a sigh, suddenly finding it difficult to tell him. I looked back up and bit my lower lip.

Cloud frowned. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not thinking about her, Tess, I swear." He reached up and put his hand on my cheek. "I'm here with you. You're the one I want."

"No, Cloud, it's not that and it's not you. It's me."

"What about you?" he asked.

"I've never been…with anyone before."

It looked like he wasn't getting what I was trying to say. Then his brows rose slightly. "Never been with anyone…You mean like never had sex?"

I nodded.

"Why didn't you say something to me before?"

"I was afraid to tell you."

"But why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought if you knew then…you'd want someone…different…more experienced."

He cradled my face in his hands and actually looked relieved. "No, you're exactly what I want, Tess." He kissed my lips and lingered near them. "I'm so glad you told me." We kissed for a few more minutes before he stopped and leaned his forehead against mine again. His eyes were closed as he took a deep breath. "I…need to tell you something, too."

I held my breath, hoping he would tell me his secret.

"I've…never either, you know…been with anyone."

Relief flooded through me. The fact that he told me meant he trusted me enough to confide in something so personal about himself. This was information he had never shared with anyone else…except unknowingly with Tifa. I slid my arms around his neck and we embraced in quiet affection.

"You believe me, don't you?"

"Yes, Cloud, I believe you."

"Don't get me wrong, I mean…I know what to do, I just…never did it."

"I know." I pulled him to my lips again and kissed him. He was so adorable when he acted so shy and insecure.

Our mouths came together again and he mumbled against my lips. "Can I spend the night again with you?"

I was so hot for him, I could barely get the words out of my mouth. "I'm not letting you out of this apartment." I took his hand and led him through the living room and into my bedroom.

Even though Tammy wasn't home, Cloud still closed the bedroom door.

I went to my dresser and started removing my jewelry. Through the mirror I watched Cloud pull off his shoes and socks and then his shirt. When he removed his slacks he was left in nothing but black boxers. He sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for me.

I pulled off my top as I walked toward him. His eyes followed my movements as I unzipped the back of my skirt and let it fall to the floor. He reached for me and pulled me closer until I was standing between his parted legs. His mouth pressed against my stomach, just under my breasts. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close as he breathed and kissed my flesh.

Just for a second, I felt that twinge of uncertainty. Even though he said he wasn't thinking of Aeris, I desperately needed to know for sure. "Cloud…"

He raised his face up, his blue-green eyes glowing softly as they focused on me. "Don't be afraid, Tess. I promise I won't do anything you're not ready for. Just tell me to stop and I promise I will."

My heart gushed. He was definitely with me and not somewhere else, there was no doubt in my mind. I reached behind me and unhooked my bra, letting it slip off my shoulders and down my arms.

Cloud moved his hands up to cover my bare breasts. He squeezed them gently and brushed his fingers over my nipples. His touch was still uncertain.

I moaned softly, letting him know I liked it.

He leaned forward and slowly closed his mouth over my left nipple. As he sucked lightly on it and stroked it with his tongue, I reached up and buried my fingers in his hair.

I gasped when he used his teeth and tugged on it. Then he licked it again. His confidence seemed to grow with every passing moment. But I continued to let him know how good it felt.

After several minutes he moved to my other nipple and started all over again.

I patiently let him get his fill, running my fingers through his hair as he switched from one nipple to the other about five times.

When Cloud finally had enough, his hands went down to my panties before looking up at me. "Can I take these off?" he hesitantly asked.

I gave him a timid smile.

He took that as a yes and proceeded to slip my panties down to my knees before releasing them to fall to my ankles. His hands caressed the sides of my thighs on the way back up.

I shivered as he stared at the juncture between my legs.

Cloud stood up and hungrily claimed my lips as he slid his arms around me. "Is it alright if I touch you?"

"I wouldn't be standing here naked if I didn't want you to."

"Let's get in bed." He released me and turned around to push the sheets away.

I climbed in bed first and he jumped in after me. When I laid on my back, Cloud rolled toward me and caressed my face as he kissed me. I held my breath as his hand immediately drifted down passed my stomach. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest as his fingers squeezed between my legs, but I bashfully parted them a little, giving him access.

When Cloud traced the outline of my folds, I let out a soft moan. "Mmm…" He found my swelling bud and I moaned again as he rubbed it.

He let out a deep sigh as he traced the lines all the way down before sliding his fingers back up, like he was memorizing the path. He touched me everywhere, learning how I reacted to the different ways he moved his fingers. Light circles…gentle tugs…rubbing just outside the entrance to my hole. "You're so wet," he whispered against my lips.

I didn't think I needed to respond. He knew why I was wet. He was making it happen. As he slowly slid a finger inside me, I let out a long moan.

At first he moved his finger around to test my reactions. When he began to move the finger in and out, my stomach clenched blissfully. It felt so incredibly good. A few dips later he added a second finger and started the motion again.

I writhed my hips, biting my lower lip to prevent the cry threatening to escape my throat.

"Am I hurting you?"

I shook my head. "No…feels good." I couldn't breathe as I continuously felt the glorious friction of his fingers. The squelchy sounds they made as they moved in and out of my slick hole seemed deafening.

Cloud looked down to where his fingers penetrated me slowly. As I continued to writhe my hips, arching into his fingers, he quickened the pace.

The heat built inside me, starting in my core and panning out. Minutes later I squeezed my eyes shut and shivered as an intense wave started rushing through me. He held his fingers deep as I rode my burning orgasm to the end.

When it was over, Cloud slowly rubbed his wet fingers over my folds, making me spasm in the aftereffects of my climax. He waited until my breathing returned to normal before kissing me. "Did you like that?"

I bashfully smiled. "Whatta you think?"

"I think you did." He slid his tongue into my mouth, coaxing mine out so he could suck on it.

Now that he had touched me, I wanted to touch him just as bad. "Can I touch you now?"

"I was hoping you would," he said as he removed his fingers from between my legs and wiped them on the sheet.

I rolled over on my side to face him and traced my fingers down his rippling torso, feeling the hard muscle beneath.

Our eyes met as my hand came to rest on the incredibly hard erection in his boxers. As I rubbed him lightly over the thin fabric, he pulsed under my touch. He reached between us to push his boxers down in front and exposed himself to me. I had seen him briefly this morning, but he hadn't been hard like he was now. When I wrapped my hand around him, he released the breath he had been holding and swallowed hard. Never having touched a male organ before, I was drawing a complete blank as to what to do with it.

Cloud covered my hand with his and moved it up and down, showing me. Then he removed his hand as I slowly stroked him, feeling the hard muscle tense and slacken with my movements. He was hard and soft at the same time and I took the time to inspect every inch of him with my fingers. After a few minutes I moved my hand a little faster, squeezing tighter.

"Yeah…just like that," Cloud said, his breath now a little ragged. He groaned in pleasure and squeezed his eyes shut. "Feels so good, Tess."

Just hearing my name on his lips along with the pleasure in his voice made me work even harder for him. I closed the gap between us and kissed him deeply.

Cloud moaned in my mouth and caught my lower lip in his teeth. Suddenly he released my lip and let out a ragged groan as he spilled himself all over my hand.

I watched the expression on his face and it almost looked like he was in pain as he came. He breathed in uneven breaths until it was over. I gently continued to stroke him, waiting for him to soften, rubbing the hot wetness of his seed around his shaft.

When his breathing slowly returned to normal, he opened his eyes. His mouth drifted over my lips for a slow, wet kiss. "You can let go now…unless you want me to cum again."

I released him and wiped my hand on the sheet. As he sought my mouth again, I didn't deny him.

A couple minutes later, with our heads sharing one of my pillows, our eyes met in satisfied relief. Words weren't necessary as we continued to touch each other in slow caresses meant to comfort rather than arouse.

Looking into his eyes that way, I suddenly felt an intimate connection with him…something mind-blowing and beautiful. I was falling in love with him…after just knowing him for only two weeks. But was it really love I was feeling or was it just lust because I wanted him so badly?

He looked back at me, making me wonder what thoughts were floating around his head at that very moment. Was he thinking about her? Was he regretting never having the opportunity to touch her the way he touched me?

I wanted to ask him, but I wasn't going to start that stupid fight again. If he wanted to share his thoughts, then he would do it on his own, without me pressuring him. I reached up and ran my fingers through his sweaty hair, pushing it away from his eyes.

His eyelids slowly fluttered. Exhaustion finally claimed him and he closed them.

As I watched him sleep for awhile, my head tried to interpret what transpired between us in the last twenty or so minutes. Our relationship had just advanced to the next level. We were at the stages where intimate touching was allowed. But did I make the right decision in letting it get this far?

No…I didn't want to even think about the possibility of making such a mistake with him. I wanted to trust him. And I wanted to think about our upcoming trip to Costa Del Sol. Cloud Strife deserved some enjoyment in his life and I planned to show him the best time ever. I knew I could never get him to forget Aeris, but at least I could try to get him to focus on us and not what he missed out on with her.

I yawned and snuggled closer to him as I closed my eyes in contentment.


	9. No More Nightmares

_A/N – I'm back from vacation and guess what…while at sea for two days, I finished a couple chapters. Here's one of them. I'll post the other one tomorrow after I check it one last time._

_WARNING – This chapter contains some sexual content._

* * *

**Chapter 9 – No More Nightmares**

Wednesday, August 14

I woke up in the middle of the night again.

Cloud was shaking so hard next to me that his teeth were actually rattling together. "Ahh…not…mom…" He growled loudly. "…killed…her…" His face cringed in agony, eyes still closed. "Noooo…"

I couldn't bear to see him this way so I moved up against him as I had done the night before and he became still and quiet. Several minutes passed and I was about to close my eyes again.

Cloud stirred and slowly folded his arms around me. "Tess…" His mouth sought mine and he kissed me before drawing away and searching my eyes sleepily. "What's wrong?"

"Do you always have nightmares?"

"Nightmares?"

"You were tossing around and talking in your sleep."

He averted his eyes. "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay. I'm just a little worried because you did it last night, too."

"I think I have them every night. Things that happened. Just shake me next time and I'll shut up."

"How about if I hold you instead?"

"That's even better." He pulled me close again and nuzzled the side of my neck.

I waited for him to say something else, but he was already asleep.

* * *

I woke to the feel of Cloud nibbling on my chin. When I opened my eyes he devoured my mouth relentlessly. My arms automatically wrapped around his neck and I realized he was dressed. "Where're you going?" I asked after pulling away.

"You mean, where did I go?"

"Huh?"

"I went out for donuts."

I remembered his motorcycle was back at the tavern and Kyle had dropped us off at the apartment. "There isn't a donut shop for miles."

"I took your car," he casually said as he got up from the bed. "Come on, get up."

As he looked down at me, it only reminded me of how naked I was. I sat up and reached for my robe hanging off the bedpost.

"There's no one else here," he said questioningly.

I slipped the robe on anyway.

He gave me a reserved smile. "Why so shy? I've already seen you."

"I don't like to feel the plastic from the kitchen chair on my naked ass," I replied almost truthfully as I got out of bed. I didn't want to tell him it turned me on like crazy when he looked at me like that.

Cloud shook his head and shrugged as he turned around. As he started to walk out the door, I hopped up on his back. He grabbed my legs and spun me around and around in the hallway, making me so dizzy I screamed and laughed outloud.

In the kitchen I slid off his back and he went to sit down at the table while I got him his coffee. There was an open box of donuts in the center and I could see there was one missing. "You ate one already?"

He shrugged innocently.

"I thought I tasted something sweet in your mouth when you kissed me." I grabbed a donut from the box and instead of sitting down in a chair, I sat sideways across his lap. When I held the donut out to him he took a huge bite and then I took one.

We shared the rest of it. He took the last bite and licked the powdered sugar off my fingers. Everything else was forgotten as our mouths met in a relentless exchange, tongues stroking and exploring.

I was so desperately hungry for him, it actually scared me. When had I developed this addiction to him and how had it happened so quickly?

After a few minutes he released my lips and I leaned my face against the side of his, relishing in his unique scent.

"I'd take you on some deliveries today, but they're all in bad parts of the city. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"It's okay. I have to get my hair trimmed anyway. I'll see you later though, right?"

"Yeah, just hang out with Tifa for awhile until I get there."

I gave him a smile and began to slowly kiss different places on his face. "Are you sure you trust Tifa after what she told me yesterday?" I kissed the middle of his forehead, where his brows always crinkled together.

"You mean about me whoring around at the club?"

I laughed at his choice of words and kissed his left eyebrow.

"I guess I bragged too much. But it's not true."

I kissed his right eyebrow. "I know."

"I never told anyone else I never had sex. Just you."

I kissed the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you want anyone to know?"

He drew back and gave me a look. "Come on. I'm a twenty-four year old guy. I should have lost my virginity when I was twelve."

I kissed his chin. "So why didn't you?"

"I was too busy dreaming about joining SOLDIER and impressing the people in my hometown."

I kissed his lips with a slurp. "And that's it?"

"Well, I guess the truth is…I've never been comfortable enough with anyone to let it get very far." He kissed me back.

I couldn't help but wonder if he would have been comfortable enough with Aeris…had there been time during their pursuit of Sephiroth. I wasn't about to start that argument again. I maneuvered my right leg across his lap so that I was now straddling and facing him. "I've never been comfortable enough with anyone either. Just you."

Cloud glanced at the clock hanging on the wall near the door. "I've got fifteen minutes before I gotta leave." He reached down and pulled open the sides of my robe, not giving me a chance to protest his gently groping hands.

But then again I wouldn't have been sitting in this position if I had any intention of protesting.

We spent every second of the time kissing passionately and touching each other. It was quickly becoming our favorite pastime.

* * *

Later that day, Cloud finished his deliveries and was taking care of some paperwork in his room upstairs while I sat at the bar with Tifa, talking about my sister's upcoming wedding and how excited I was about going away with Cloud.

"Has Cloud ever been on a vacation before?" I asked her.

"Vacation isn't a word in his vocabulary. The last time he had any real fun was when Cid took the guys in his airship to the Golden Saucer last year and they bet on the Chocobo races all day long. But Cloud was more excited about going sixteen rounds in the Battle Square and winning every one of them."

"Sixteen rounds? Did he get hurt?"

"Yeah, but that never stops him. I seriously think he lives to fight."

The bell over the door rang. I saw Tifa's eyes light up and knew Reno had arrived. She ran out from behind the bar and greeted him with a hug.

"Hey, baby, did ya miss me?" Reno asked solicitously.

I turned away with a smile as they started kissing.

Cloud came downstairs and when he saw them, he shook his head in disgust. "We have perfectly good rooms upstairs, you know," he said, repeating the comment Tifa had made to him the day before. He came and sat down next to me with an invoice in his hand.

"Anything important?" I asked.

"Not sure yet. Tifa took the order." He turned to look over his shoulder. "Tifa, when you're done sucking face with Reno, I need you to look at this."

Tifa came back behind the bar with a smile and Reno followed her, helping himself to a beer.

Cloud slid the invoice across the bar. "What's this stuff?"

Tifa looked at the paper. "Oh, you can find that in Junon. There's a shop called Packard near the station."

"Junon." Cloud sighed heavily. "Guess I'll be gone for a couple days again."

"Why don't you send Barret?" suggested Tifa.

"Nah, he's gonna cover for me when I'm away with Tess. I can't ask him to do this, too." When he turned to me, I could see the concern on his face that I might be upset he'd be gone for more than a day.

I didn't want him to think I would hinder his job in any way. This was his livelihood. I didn't want to interfere. "It's okay, Cloud. You do what you have to do."

"I can do it," volunteered Reno. "Just let me borrow that bad ass motorcycle of yours and…"

"Not a fucking chance in hell, Reno," Cloud cut in.

"Aw, you're no fun at all." He turned to Tifa. "See how he treats me?"

Cloud picked up the invoice. "I'm gonna go make a couple phone calls." He got up and went back upstairs.

"So tell me more about the wedding," said Tifa. "What color's your dress?"

Reno leaned forward. "Forget the wedding. Is there gonna be a bachelor party?"

I gave Reno a look. "Yes. It's Saturday night."

"Naked women, lap dances…I think I should go with Cloud just to make sure he behaves himself."

Tifa elbowed Reno in the ribs. "Just ignore him. He's sexually deprived and will continue to be so if he doesn't behave."

Reno continued. "Hey, no offense, Tessa, but you gotta watch that guy. He told me he had three girls on him once."

Tifa and I exchanged a glance, knowing it was obviously one of the stories Cloud bragged about. But I didn't let on that it was all fabricated. "His playing days are over, Reno. He's with me now."

Reno scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but…I think I should still go to keep an eye on him. He sometimes has these memory lapses and he might forget he's with you."

"Reno!" said Tifa as she smacked his arm.

I laughed and got up. "I think I'll go see if Cloud needs any help." I got up and as I headed upstairs, I couldn't help but think about Reno's tasteless comment. Would Cloud behave himself if the guys decided to all go to a strip club? "Let it go, Tess," I told myself. But what about these memory lapses Reno mentioned? Cloud didn't tell me anything about them. I wasn't sure if I should ask him about them or ignore what Reno said.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I heard his voice carrying from the open doorway.

"They've got three in stock…yeah…Friday…probably around five pm…Great, see you then." He hung up and immediately dialed another number. "Yeah, it's Strife again. He'll take all three…I'll be there Friday morning…"

I walked into Cloud's bedroom, which was also his office. This was the first time I had seen it. It was pretty sparse. Besides the twin bed resting sideways against the wall, there was a single dresser and a desk with a computer and a phone. A corkboard hung on the wall with several things pinned to it. Also on the desk were two pictures. One of them was Cloud, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel. The other was a recent one of Cloud and me that Tifa took the other day. I didn't even realize she had printed and framed it already.

Cloud glanced over his shoulder at me as he continued his call. "Okay, no problem….Thanks." He hung up the phone and made some notes on the invoice. "It's all set." Then he got up from the chair and walked over to kiss me on the cheek. "I'll miss you, Tess."

"I'll miss you, too."

Cloud reached for the open door and gave it a shove. It swung shut. Then he put his hands on my face and kissed me on the lips. He moved a couple of steps, guiding me backwards until my back was against the wall.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him plunder my mouth with his tongue.

After several minutes, he finally pulled away and whispered against my lips. "Stay here with me."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah."

"What about the kids?"

"What about them? They have their own room."

I smiled. "No, I mean, what're they going to think if I spend the night?"

"Don't worry about the kids."

"Mmm…" I couldn't stop kissing him. "I have to think about it."

"Come on, Tess. I won't see you for two whole days."

"Okay, but I need something to wear. Maybe Tifa can borrow me a pair of sweats and a teeshirt?"

"You can wear mine."

Cloud kissed me one last time before taking my hand as he opened the door. Then we went back downstairs to join the others for dinner.

* * *

At 9:30 we went back upstairs to his bedroom.

Cloud went into a drawer and pulled out two items. Then he handed them to me. "Here. You can wear these. They're clean."

I walked out of his bedroom and across the landing to the steps leading to the other rooms. The bathroom was the first door on the left. Never having been in it since there was one downstairs, I smiled at the way it was decorated for children, with a plastic shower curtain covered with colorful cartoon characters and some toys resting on the bathtub ledge. I tried to picture Cloud taking a shower in it and laughed.

I took off my jeans, shirt and bra and unfolded what Cloud gave me. A white sleeveless teeshirt and light-blue and white striped boxers. I put them on, finding the boxers fit me perfectly, but the teeshirt was a little too long. After folding my clothes, I checked myself in the mirror, checked to make sure I had nothing in my teeth and then walked out of the bathroom.

When I got back to Cloud's room, the door was closed. I knocked.

"Come in."

I opened the door and found Cloud sitting on the edge of his bed, setting his alarm clock. He was wearing blue boxers and nothing else.

He looked up as I walked in and closed the door behind me. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Damn…"

"What?"

He opened his eyes again. "You look so good in my underwear. Can you walk out and come back in again?"

I smiled and then looked at the twin bed we'd be sharing. There wasn't much room, so we'd be practically on top of each other. But I wasn't about to complain.

Cloud got up and walked passed me to lock the door. Talk about looking good…he looked so hot in boxers. They rode low on his hips, threatening to fall at any second.

I walked to the bed and climbed in first, rolling on my side with my back to the wall. When Cloud walked over and crawled on, he pulled the covers over both of us. I tilted my face up to line my lips with his as he slid his arms around me.

Cloud didn't hesitate and I didn't object as we went into a hungry dance of lips and tongues and teeth. We were starving for each other…to be deprived for the next two days. I moaned in appreciation as his left thigh slipped between my legs and pressed against my center. Without even realizing, I began to grind myself up and down against it.

He provoked me further as his lips found the sensitive spot behind my ear. He started humping against me and we moved in tandem for several minutes. His hard bulge in his boxers was rubbing against my belly, between our pressed bodies. Then in complete frustration, he tossed the sheets aside. "Fuck this." He took about five seconds to get out of his boxers and then another five to strip me out of my clothes.

We reached for each other, his fingers finding me hot and wet and mine finding him hot and hard.

When I let out another moan, Cloud covered my mouth with his to silence me. We pleasured each other at the same time, breaths mingling with our faces pressed together. But I liked watching my hand moving over his shaft and pressing him to my wet hole. It seemed like such a licentious thing to be doing with him, but it was as close to actual intercourse as we could get. Even though we both knew we weren't quite ready for that step yet, we seemed to have a mutual understanding that we'd eventually be exploring it together. So I obliged whatever Cloud wanted, knowing he would stop if it wasn't to my liking.

Minutes later, I came first, moaning against his lips and seconds after that he reached his own climax, spraying his seed all over me.

Cloud sighed in relief when it was over and brought his lips to mine for a slow kiss.

"You should go to sleep now, Cloud. You have to be up early."

"I know."

I slid my arms around him and nuzzled close.

"I hope Reno didn't upset you about what he said," Cloud said after a few minutes of silence.

I drew back to look at him. "About what?"

"He was going on and on about a bachelor party and said you were pissed about it. I don't have to go if you don't want me to."

"I wasn't pissed. It was just…he kept saying I needed to keep an eye on you."

He cupped my chin and tilted it upward. "You don't have to worry about me, Tess. I'd never hurt you that way."

"I know, Cloud. I trust you." I accepted his kiss, deciding not to mention Reno's comment about Cloud's memory lapses.

A few minutes later we settled in each other's arms to fall asleep.

* * *

Thursday, August 15

I woke up to an alarm clock buzzer and remembered that mine didn't sound anything like that. And then I remembered I wasn't in my own bed.

Cloud reached over his head to slap a palm over the Snooze button. Then he pulled me tighter against him.

"You have to get up now," I mumbled sleepily against the side of his neck.

"In a minute."

I nuzzled my face just under his chin. He smelled a little of sweat but I had grown to love that scent. In fact, I found myself opening my mouth and kissing his neck before running my tongue over the same spot, loving the salty taste of him.

He pulled my face up and gave me a crooked smile. "I like waking up together like this."

We shared several kisses before the alarm buzzer went off again. He groaned in frustration as he rolled away from me to slap the clock into silence. Then he sat up on the edge of the small bed.

I watched him yawn and scratch the back of his head before getting up. As he walked around the room, gathering clean clothes to wear, I noticed he seemed completely comfortable parading stark naked in front of me. And I couldn't say I didn't mind the view.

As he finally slipped on pajama bottoms, he gave me a smile and a wink before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

I rubbed my hands over my face and tried to go back to sleep. But fifteen minutes later, I gave up. Maybe it was best if I got up and left before the kids woke.

As I sat up and stretched, I smiled at the vivid image in my head of Cloud's sperm gushing out all over me the night before. Which reminded me, I lifted the covers to look down at myself.

The door suddenly opened and I quickly pulled the covers up to my neck.

Luckily it was Cloud and not anyone else. He closed the door behind him. He was showered and wearing a towel around his waist. As he began to dress, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was so blindingly beautiful it was almost a sin to look at him.

With a sigh I looked away and glanced at the floor around the bed, looking for my panties, which he had pulled off along with the boxers the night before. "Cloud, what'd you do with my underwear?"

Cloud walked over to pick something up off the floor near his dresser. "You mean these?" He held them up and brought them to his face to sniff before walking over and pressing them into my open hand.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to go right now. Stay and sleep awhile longer." As I reclined again on the pillow, he crouched next to the bed and reached out to brush the hair away from my face. Then he bent forward to kiss my lips. He tasted like toothpaste. "Can you do me a favor while I'm gone?"

"Sure."

"Pack for me. I don't know what to bring."

"Shorts and teeshirts, mostly."

"I have a pair of shorts."

"Just one pair? You're gonna need more than that."

"But that's all I have."

"Hm, I think I need to go shopping for my boyfriend." I tapped my lips with a finger. "And I'll pick up your tuxedo, too."

"Great, thanks." He leaned forward to my lips again, kissing me hungrily.

The next thing I knew, he pulled away from my mouth and was kissing his way down passed my collarbone until his lips closed over a nipple. I let out a small gasp as he teased the peak with his tongue and his teeth before lightly sucking on it.

"Damn, I need to stop. I'll be riding around with a hard on all day." He abruptly pulled away and stood up, running all ten of his fingers through his damp hair. When he bent down for one final kiss, his fingers pried my panties out of my hand and he took them from me.

I gave him a questioning look.

"You can wear my boxers." Cloud straightened up and his eyes automatically drifted down to admire my bare breasts. With a smile he slipped my panties in the front pocket of his jeans before he left the bedroom.

I curled myself in the covers, inhaling and languishing in the scent they were drenched with. His pillow smelled just like him too. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent again. Just the thought of not seeing him for two days was depressing me. Could I possibly be so dependant on him already that I couldn't survive less than 48 hours without him? I closed my eyes again and continued to inhale the scent on his pillow.

About ten minutes later I heard him start his motorcycle outside and I turned my face toward the window, listening to the sound as it slowly faded away.

My thoughts immediately drifted to the upcoming bachelor party. In my mind's eye I saw Cloud with a naked woman wiggling on his lap and he seemed to be enjoying her hands touching him. I quickly shook my head. No…Cloud would never do that. He wouldn't disrespect our relationship. Not after what we shared. He wasn't like Peter, my ex-boyfriend. Cloud was different…

* * *

I spent most of the afternoon with Tifa as we shopped for Cloud. She didn't know what size he was, so I had looked at the labels on some of the clothes in his drawers and closet. 32 inch waist, medium shirt size. That was easy.

Tifa and I laughed hysterically when we decided on several loudly patterned shorts in black and other wild colors. We also picked out polo shirts, teeshirts, a couple pairs of dress slacks and dress shirts.

Cloud had a few things in his closet, but not enough to get him by for a seven-day vacation. Most of his wardrobe consisted of black or tan cargo pants and similar colored teeshirts. Tifa confessed that after he asked me out, he was panicked about not having anything nice to wear. So she had gone out with him to buy a pair of slacks and two shirts.

I thought it was sweet that he was concerned about the way he looked for me.

I didn't mind spending the money on Cloud. My parents were loaded and Dad gave me a credit card to use until I was making my own money. I even bought Tifa and I new bikinis and some toys for Marlene and Denzel. I couldn't leave them out.

* * *

At 7:30, Cloud called my cell.

"Hi," I answered.

"Hi. What're you up to?"

"I'm at the tavern with Tammy. Tifa made dinner for us. We went shopping and I bought you all kinds of things."

"People are gonna think I'm dating you for your money."

I laughed. "What're you doing?"

"Having a burger and thinking about where I wanna stay."

"You know, my parents live in Junon."

"Want me to knock on their door and see if they'll put me up for the night?" he asked sarcastically.

I laughed again and glanced at the table next to the bar. Marlene and Denzel were building some kind of model airplane and they were both looking up at me, hopeful looks on their faces.

"Is that Cloud?" asked Denzel.

"I think the kids wanna say hi to you," I said into the phone.

"Okay, put them on," said Cloud.

I hopped off the bar stool and walked over to hand the phone first to Denzel. As I sat down at the table with them, Marlene was studying me rather intensely. When I smiled at her, she smiled back. I could tell this young girl of six or seven was wise beyond her years. She'd been through a lot too, so I could imagine such events would have quickly matured any kid.

"You like Cloud a lot," she finally said to me.

"Yes, I like him."

"I saw you kiss him last night."

Oh boy. Where was it we had snuck a couple kisses before we were in the privacy of his bedroom? In the kitchen…in the hall…just outside the downstairs bathroom…behind the bar…outside the front door. We had kissed rather passionately in all of those places, but I didn't know where Marlene had seen us. I gave her a thoughtful look. "Is that okay, that I kiss him, I mean?"

"I think he likes you, too, so I guess it's okay." A small frown grew on her face. "Denzel and I have two beds in our room. How did you and Cloud both fit in his little bed?"

I looked up at the ceiling and bit my lips. Crap, how was I going to answer that one?

"I'll ask Cloud," she said when I didn't respond to her.

"No, honey, I don't think he'll like you asking him that."

"Why not?"

I sighed heavily.

Marlene turned to Denzel. "It's my turn."

"Okay, Cloud," Denzel said into the phone. "I'll see you tomorrow night….Here's Marlene."

Marlene grabbed my cellphone from Denzel's hand. "How did you and Tessa fit in your bed?"

I closed my eyes and groaned. God, couldn't she have at least said something else before jumping right into her curiosity?

"Why can't you talk about it now?" she asked him. "Why do I have to ask Tifa? Her bed is bigger than yours so I know there's room for Reno…" Marlene pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it with a frown. Then she looked at Denzel. "He's growling on the phone."

That made Denzel laugh hysterically.

When Marlene finished talking to Cloud, she handed the cellphone back to me.

I got up from the table and walked into the kitchen where Tifa was waiting for something in the microwave. "So what did you tell Marlene about the bed situation?" I asked him.

"We were hugging. That's how we fit. Tifa's gonna have to talk to her."

"What about Denzel?"

"He's ten and probably knows more than me."

I laughed. "I told you sleeping over was not a good idea."

"Call me tonight when you're in bed. Okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." I turned to Tifa who was looking in my direction.

She gave me a knowing smile. "I'll take care of it."

* * *

Later on, when I was tucked in my bed, I called Cloud.

He answered after the second ring. "Hi, Tess."

"Hi. Are you in your motel room yet?"

"Yeah, just got out of the shower. I had two inches of dirt on me." There was some rustling on the other end and then he groaned. "Oh God, feels good to lay down. I hate these all day runs. Every bone in my body hurts."

"I'll have to give you a nice backrub when you come home."

"Sounds too good to be true."

"Did you run into any trouble on the way to Junon?" It was a known fact that there were still deadly creatures roaming the wastelands. The safest way to get around most of the time was to go to a pier and take a ferry to another port. That was the way to reach the coastal cities. Then there were armored trains to go to cities further inland. It was rare that people ever traveled from city to city using the wasteland roads…except Cloud apparently.

"Yeah, just a scuffle with some slimy things. Can't remember what they're called, but who cares. They're history now."

"Are you okay?"

"A couple of scratches. On my chin and my hand. Nothing serious."

"I get so worried about you, Cloud…out there by yourself."

"I'm fine, Tess. I've been to every corner of the world dealing with this shit. There's nothing out there I haven't dealt with before."

"I know, but I still worry."

"Really, I'm all right and I'll be home soon."

"I was thinking you could spend the night at my place again. Kyle's spending the night. We can all leave together on Saturday morning."

"Great idea."

"I'll make sure you're all packed by the time you get home so you won't have to worry about it."

"Good, because I just wanna see you." There was more rustling. "Guess what I have in my hand."

My first thought was his pecker, but I wasn't sure whether he was bold enough to admit it. "I don't know. What do you have in your hand?"

"What'd I take from you this morning?"

"My underwear?" An image popped into my head, Cloud sniffing my panties. A chill shot up my spine.

"They smell just like you, Tess," he said with a sigh.

There wasn't a sound on the other end for a long time after that and for a second I thought maybe he had fallen asleep.

"Cloud?"

"Yeah…I'm here," he said in a shaky voice.

"Are you okay?"

"I just…wanna be with you again."

I was ecstatic that he was thinking about me and not someone else. "I know, me too."

"I wanna touch you so bad right now, it's killing me."

"Mmm…" Then I giggled. "Are we going to try phone sex again?"

"No, I want the real thing."

I couldn't argue with that. "All right, then get some sleep. And don't have any nightmares. Okay?"

"I'll try."

We finally hung up after a few minutes. It took awhile before I could fall asleep because I was so worried Cloud wouldn't be able to.


	10. Tequila

_A/N – Hello everyone. Here's the next chapter in the developing relationship between Cloud and Tessa. _

_Warning – Graphic adult content._

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Tequila**

Friday, August 16

Tammy and I made a last minute run to the drug store for some last minute things we might have forgotten to get. I picked up some extra disposable razors and a new toothbrush for Cloud. I also picked up some of his favorite shower soap. The scent of it reminded me of him.

We went back to the apartment to pack our things. I had all of Cloud's nicer clothes with me and I packed them, along with his tux, in my garment bag. All of his shorts, teeshirts and other things were at his place and still needed to be packed.

When Tammy and I finished packing at the apartment, we walked to the tavern where she helped me pack Cloud's things. He didn't have a suitcase, so I borrowed one from Tifa.

"What the fuck…" Tammy laughed as she held up a pair of boxers. They were white with little red hearts on them. "You bought these for him, didn't you?"

I gave her a small smile. "Maybe."

"There's no way in hell he'd buy these for himself. He's got too much testosterone in him. Good luck trying to get him to wear them."

I laughed and didn't tell her I had actually bought them for myself and planned to wear them for him one night.

* * *

At 5:30 Cloud called me.

"I just dropped off the merchandise," he said, "and I'm on my way home. I should be there in about fifteen minutes."

"We'll wait for you to eat."

"We?"

"Me, Tammy, Kyle, Tifa, Reno, Marlene and Denzel."

"Great, a full house," he said sarcastically. "See you in a bit."

Tammy and I helped Tifa with dinner and it was almost ready by the time Cloud walked in the door. Marlene and Denzel greeted him with hugs first.

Cloud came up to me and pulled me in his arms. "I was driving so fast," he whispered in my ear. "I couldn't wait to see you."

"I'm so glad you're home."

He drew back and gave me a sweet and affectionate kiss on the lips. "Do I have time to take a shower?"

I reached up to trace the fresh scar on his chin from whatever beast had nicked him the day before. "Yeah, but hurry up. Dinner's almost ready."

"Be down in ten minutes." He greeted the others with a wave and headed up the stairs.

By the time we had dinner on the table, Cloud came downstairs wearing black jogging pants and a white teeshirt.

During dinner we all chatted about the usual things. All the while, Cloud and I kept exchanging glances. We both wanted to be alone, but didn't want to be rude to the others by excusing ourselves too early on a Friday night.

"Shit, I wish I was going on a beach vacation," Reno said bitterly.

Cloud looked up at him. "So get Rufus to pay for a trip."

"For all the shit I've done for him, fuck, he should buy me the hotel."

Both Marlene and Denzel looked up at Reno.

"Come on, Reno," warned Cloud. "Enough with the four letter words."

Reno tried to redeem himself. "Sorry, kids. Swearing isn't good, you know."

"Then why do you do it?" Marlene innocently asked.

"It's what adults do sometimes," replied Cloud. "But they shouldn't do it in front of kids."

"Why do adults like to sleep together in one bed?" Marlene asked Cloud out of the blue.

Everyone reacted differently…Cloud opened his mouth, but nothing came out…Kyle nearly choked on his food…Tifa dropped her fork…Tammy raised her eyebrows…I groaned…

And Reno, he had a huge grin on his face. "I can't wait to hear your answer this one, Spike."

After dinner Tifa put Marlene and Denzel to bed and we hung at the bar for a little while, doing several shots of tequila in honor of Cloud's upcoming birthday.

"The big twenty-five," said Reno. "I remember mine last year."

"Uneventful?" asked Cloud.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Pretty much."

Tifa nudged Reno with her shoulder. "That's before I came along, right?"

"Course it is, babe."

Kyle poured more tequila in everyone's empty shot glasses and then raised his. "To Reno's next birthday. May it be more exciting."

Everyone raised their shot glasses and drank.

* * *

At 9:30, we said our goodbyes and left Seventh Heaven. Kyle put Cloud's suitcase in the trunk of his car and while Tammy drove with him, Cloud and I went on his motorcycle.

At our apartment, with our suitcases stacked near the door and ready to go, Kyle and Tammy went into her bedroom, while Cloud followed me in mine.

Cloud turned off all the lights except the one over the nightstand. Then as I stood in front of the mirror over my dresser and took off my earrings, he came up and wrapped his arms around me from behind, gently pressing a kiss to the side of my neck. "I want you so bad, it's making me crazy." Without any further delay, he pulled my teeshirt up and over my head. My bra clasp came loose with a flick of his fingers and he pushed it off my shoulders and down my arms.

I watched him through the mirror as he brought his lips to my bare shoulder, while his fingers lightly traced the three diagonal scars over my left shoulder blade.

My jeans were next. He undid them in front and pushed them down, along with my panties. They pooled down around my ankles.

Cloud leaned over my shoulder and pressed his face against the side of mine as his eyes looking at me in the mirror. He slowly brushed his fingers up and down the sides of my arms. "Look at you…you're so beautiful." The way his eyes looked at me sent a shiver up my spine.

I closed my eyes as he reached around and gently squeezed my breasts. When his left hand left my breast, I opened my eyes again and looked into the mirror, watching it travel down my stomach. His fingers moved to the juncture of my thighs and I let out a sigh of pleasure.

Something caught my attention. His growing erection was poking my behind. It reminded me of how much I wanted him just as naked as he had me. I turned around, forcing him to release me.

He remained silent as I tugged his teeshirt out of his sweatpants and pulled it up over his head. The sight of his chest took my breath away every time. I ran my hands over it, grazing my nails over his skin as I moved downward.

When I reached his sweats, Cloud leaned his face toward me and I raised mine up to receive his kiss. My hands worked his sweats and boxers down his hips and down his legs. He stepped out of them and I looked down. If I started touching him now, it'd be over in a matter of seconds.

"How about that backrub I promised you?" I asked him.

He released a heavy, impatient sigh. "Yeah, I suppose."

I smiled. Just like any typical guy…always wanting to get to the good stuff right away.

As we went to the bed, we heard the shower running in the bathroom, followed by some giggling. My wall was right next to it so I could hear Tammy and Kyle. It wasn't the first time I had heard them showering together.

Cloud gave me a knowing smile and climbed on my bed and laid down on his stomach.

I crawled up over him and straddled his butt. Cloud groaned as I leaned forward and started massaging his shoulders. His muscles were wound up tightly and I felt them slowly give under my hands. I moved down his spine, working on the knots there.

"That feels so good, Tess."

I rubbed his lower back for a short while before moving back up to his shoulders. "Let me know when you want me to stop."

Cloud obviously had enough because he rolled himself around and scooted backward to lean against the headboard. He had a crooked smile on his face. "Give me your feet."

I maneuvered my feet around to rest on his chest.

He reached up and started massaging my arches and my heels.

It felt good until he raised one of my feet up and kissed the bottom of my toes. It tickled so much I squirmed and tried to get my foot out of his hands.

He gave me a look as he kept a firm grip on my foot. "What?"

"Tickles."

"Yeah?"

I pulled my foot again, but he still held it firmly. "Cloud, don't…"

"Don't?"

"Don't tickle it."

He gave me a sly smile and instead of tickling my feet, he pried them apart, drawing my legs open. As he pulled me forward by the ankles and maneuvered me closer to him, his hands immediately covered my breasts.

I pushed his bangs out of his eyes before I buried my fingers in his hair. He leaned forward to take my left nipple into his mouth. A moan escaped my throat and he swirled his tongue around the peak before lightly sucking on it.

He kept his hand on my breast, still squeezing it as he licked and sucked my nipple. After several minutes, he switched to the right one.

I writhed on his lap, feeling myself get so wet as he fondled my nipples…licking and sucking and gently nipping at them.

When I thought I couldn't take anymore, Cloud lifted his face from my breasts and claimed my lips in a searing kiss.

I took him in my hand and stroked up and down, while moving myself even closer. As I pressed him against me, he was soon coated with my essence and my hand slipped easily over his length.

"Ahh, feels so good," he said with a groan and he watched the movement between us.

As I continued to stroke and rub him against me, the movement created a wonderful sensation that brought me so close to orgasm.

Cloud put his hands on my thighs and caressed and squeezed them as he groaned.

I studied his face, contorting in pleasure and was gratified that I was the one giving him this enjoyment. Seeing him in such a blissful state put me over the edge. The warmth spread through me and I came with a cry of pleasure as I squeezed my thighs against the sides of his hips.

Right then Cloud let out a throaty groan and I stared wide-eyed as he shot out in white spurts. He leaned toward me as he rode out his orgasm. Then finally he fell back against the headboard with a heavy sigh. He pulled my face to him as he kissed me.

I smiled at him. "That didn't take long."

"Tequila makes me horny."

A distant conversation came to mind. The day we were at the beach and we were talking about what alcohol we liked. He had started to say something about tequila, but never finished the sentence. Now I knew what he had been about to say, but stopped himself…obviously because he didn't know me well enough to make such a statement.

I moved off his lap and dragged the covers over us as we laid down.

Even though my queen sized bed was roomier than his twin, we still curled up together before falling asleep.

* * *

Saturday, August 17

I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't seem to fall back asleep. Cloud was sleeping soundly next to me and I didn't want to disturb him with my tossing and turning…especially since he didn't have any nightmares. I quietly got up and slipped on my robe before walking out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. I took a hot shower and toweled myself dry before walking back into my bedroom and slipping out of my robe.

When I crawled back into bed, Cloud stirred and rolled toward me, snuggling up close. "Where did you go?" he asked sleepily without opening his eyes.

"I couldn't sleep, so I took a shower."

His eyes slowly opened and he regarded me with a look of concern. "Why can't you sleep? Did I wake you with another stupid nightmare?"

I shook my head. "No. Maybe because you weren't holding me any longer."

"I'm sorry." Cloud dragged me closer and folded his arms around me.

We held each other for a few minutes until our lips found each other. As we kissed hungrily, his fingers immediately moved down between my legs, finding me already wet with need. So much for going back to sleep. He seemed wide awake now.

"I wanna taste you," he breathed against my lips.

A chill went up my spine at the very thought of his mouth anywhere near my crotch.

Cloud tossed the sheets off and moved down to the foot of the bed. As I bent my legs, he spread them apart and began touching my damp folds.

At first I was bashful about Cloud's face being so close between my open legs. But I quickly realized there was nothing for me to be embarrassed about. We had already been way too intimate for me to feel that way. So I closed my eyes and relaxed to the wonderful sensation of his familiar fingers. Then he brought his mouth down there.

First he lightly brushed me with his lips, followed by several soft, sucking kisses. He slowly ran his softened tongue along my crevasses and lightly sucked on the protruding flesh.

I moaned outloud, wanting so badly to arch up, but he held me down with one hand, while he slid two fingers inside me. Then he used the same fingers to push apart my folds. Cloud stroked the pink flesh with his tongue, sending spasms through me. He buried his tongue inside, digging deep and tickling my inner walls before nipping at my bud and making me spasm again. He ate me slowly, sucking wetly on my folds, giving me the chance to feel the exquisite sensations building up inside me.

It was hard for me to believe this was the first time Cloud was doing this because he seemed to be quite proficient at it. He knew exactly what made me squirm and what set me off. He obviously paid close attention to my reactions everytime he touched me and now he knew how to orally enhance the sensations.

I reached down with one hand to slide my fingers into his hair as I gasped and squealed, literally shaking from the need to reach my peak. It was close. But each time I thought I was almost there, he'd pause and start all over again, prolonging it until I wanted to rip his hair out if he didn't let me cum. Yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing. Then just as I felt like bursting into tears, he stroked his tongue over me before relentlessly sucking on the spot that made me cry out the most.

My head exploded and I screamed out my relief as I drowned in the intense wave rushing through me. The spasms shook my entire body and I gasped for air, feeling the fireworks bursting in my core. His mouth moved down to lap at my release before moving back up to renew the wave.

Multiple orgasms had always been an unattainable myth to me, but I felt them that morning and lost count after awhile because my brain was suffering from lack of oxygen. Maybe he got the hint when I started pulling his hair with both of my fists. He crawled up over me and kissed me with an open mouth.

I could taste my essence on his tongue. It wasn't so bad, mingled in there with his own unique taste. "Cloud, that was so good," I said with a satisfied sigh.

He kissed me again with a hum.

I shivered and wrapped my arms and legs around him as he devoured my mouth with an overwhelming hunger. I could feel his erection pressing between my legs. "Cloud…"

"Mmm…" he mumbled against my mouth.

"I want to taste you, too."

He didn't hesitate for a second and rolled on his back. "I'm all yours."

The sound of his words made me shiver. He was all mine. Yes…

I rolled on my stomach and scooted down to his beautiful erection. He had a light brushing of dark blonde hair that began just below his bellybutton and trailed down and around his package. I wrapped my hand around his shaft and stroked him slowly as I leaned forward and grazed him with my tongue. As I ran my tongue along his entire length he groaned. Finally I slid him inside my mouth. I gently sucked on him and he stiffened even more.

"Feels so good, Tess, don't stop," he breathed out.

I slid him in and out of my mouth, grazing his tender flesh with my teeth. I liked feeling every inch of him passing my lips and then teasing the small wet hole with the tip of my tongue. For extra incentive, I reached down to wrap a hand around his testicles, squeezing them gently. The light hair on them was incredibly soft and not coarse, the way I thought it would be.

He was breathing heavier, just like the other times right before he climaxed. His organ pulsed and tightened and then suddenly with a growl of pleasure, he shot his load right in my mouth. I swallowed his release without qualms. When I pulled him out of my mouth, he continued to spurt and he jerked in pleasure each time I brought my tongue back on him.

His head was tilted forward and he gave one final groan before falling back on the pillow with a heavy sigh. "Fucking incredible," he panted out. "But I came too fast."

I crawled up over his body and he didn't protest when I passionately kissed him. Hm, there was nothing sexier than a man who didn't have reservations about tasting himself in a woman's mouth.

After a few minutes I moved to his chin, running my tongue along the fresh scar there. Then I pressed my face against the side of his neck, inhaling his familiar masculine scent. "Mmm…"

When I began sucking on his skin, Cloud laughed. "Trying to give me a hickey?"

I lifted my head and smiled down at him. "I want everyone to see what we've been doing." I moved my mouth back to the side of his neck. He was all sweaty and smelled so good. I ran my tongue all over him, licking at the salty wetness on his skin. I moved lower to lavish his chest with a wet tongue, sucking and biting each of his nipples. He had several light scars on his chest from previous battles and I traced them with my tongue.

Cloud let me have my fun, but he was thoroughly enjoying my ministrations. By the time I was finished with him, his neck and chest were full of deep red love marks.

* * *

We were up at 6:30.

While Cloud took a shower, I got dressed and went in the kitchen to start the coffee. A few minutes later Tammy strolled out with a yawn.

"Somebody was having some fun this morning," she drawled as she opened the refrigerator.

"I wouldn't talk. You forget my bedroom is right next to the bathroom."

"Just trying to conserve water."

I laughed. "Where's Kyle?"

"Still sleeping. I'll wake him up in a few minutes with a cup of coffee and a blowjob."

That made me laugh again. "Will he want cereal with that?"

"Sure. I'll have some, too."

With the coffee brewing, I pulled out four bowls and poured cereal in each of them. I set the bowls on the table and put a carton of milk in the center. Then I went to pour the coffee in four mugs.

Cloud walked into the kitchen. "'Morning, Tammy."

"'Morning, Cloud."

He walked up behind me. This time he didn't seem to care that Tammy was there. He slid his arms around my waist and attacked my left earlobe with a growl.

"Ow, you beast. Go sit down."

He did, but not until after he had sucked on my cheek.

I set a mug of coffee in front of him and sat down to his left.

"I better go wake up old grumpy," said Tammy before she walked out of the kitchen.

Cloud took the carton and poured milk into his cereal. "You know, I'm a little nervous about meeting your parents."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "They'll probably think I'm not good enough for you."

"Cloud…" I waited until he looked at me before I continued. "I'm the one who's not good enough."

"Don't say that, Tess. Don't put me on a pedestal."

I leaned toward him with a smile. "You're adorable when you act all humble."

Cloud leaned toward me, closing the gap between us. "You know what? I don't care what anyone thinks. You're good for me." He gave me a long, open-mouthed kiss, followed by three smaller ones.

A few minutes later, Tammy and Kyle walked into the kitchen. They sat down and joined us as we ate our cereal.

"Cloud, what'd you have a fight with a vacuum cleaner?" Tammy was referring to the red welts on the sides of his neck.

Cloud smiled without trepidation. "You like that?"

Kyle laughed. "Awesome, dude."

My eyes widened suddenly as I realized my parents would see them, too. Mom would have a heart attack, especially when she found out Cloud and I were sharing a hotel room.


	11. Stupid Relatives

A/N – Hello out there!

Disclaimer – Cloud Strife and other characters and locations from _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Advent_ _Children_ are the property of Square-Enix. I own nothing but Tessa and her wacky family.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Stupid Relatives**

Saturday, August 17 continued

We were on the road by 7:30. Cloud and I were on Fenrir in front and Kyle and Tammy were behind us in his car, with all of our luggage. It was a forty minute drive to the pier where a Ferry made weekly trips to and from the Midgar and Coral Areas.

Once we arrived at the pier, we waited awhile until we were allowed to drive our vehicles on the boat. We locked everything up and headed to the top deck to watch the boat leave the shore. It was 9:00am and it would be a three hour cruise to Costa Del Sol.

The Ferry was pretty crowded so the four of us decided to head one deck down. While Kyle and Tammy went to sit at the bar, which was also pretty crowded, Cloud and I went to the seating section, which was far more deserted. We went to the last row of benches and slid down to the reiling.

The cool breeze felt good, but wearing shorts and a tank top, I was feeling a bit chilly. As Cloud slid his arm around my shoulders, I folded my knees up and cuddled against his chest.

"So what'd you buy me the other day?" asked Cloud.

"Four pairs of shorts, six casual shirts and four dressy ones and two pairs of slacks. Plus some other stuff. You'll see."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? That much?"

"Consider it your birthday present."

He frowned a bit and looked away. "I wish I could get you something."

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I don't want anything. I just want you." When he turned back to me with a smile, I smiled back. I still couldn't believe we were together. Just two weeks ago he was a stranger on a motorcycle…cocky as hell. And now we had shared some very intimate moments. It was a little overwhelming. But when I looked in his warm aqua eyes, I knew there was no other man in the world I wanted more than him.

Cloud reached around and ran a hand over my arm, all the way down to my hand, which he took and kissed my fingertips. "I'm hungry for some dessert," he said.

"I think they only sell pizza and hot dogs on this boat."

"That's not the kind of dessert I'm talking about. All I need is some whip cream."

"Ohhh, that kind of dessert." I gave him a crooked smile.

Cloud Strife had a romantic streak a mile long. I think he even surprised himself with the things he said to me sometimes. The conversation made me want to find a maintenance closet Cloud and I could sneak into. But we'd have plenty of time for that all week long. Instead he put a hand on my face and coaxed me into a kiss. I obliged what he wanted and opened my mouth to his probing tongue.

After awhile though we had to stop because people were coming to sit down on the benches. We remained there for most of the cruise, leaning close to each other and whispering so no one else could hear. Only when we neared the coast did we return to the top deck.

* * *

Once the boat docked at Costa Del Sol, we waited to drive our vehicles off. I could tell Cloud was getting impatient because he kept revving the engine. Finally when we were allowed to disembark, we headed down the main street along the beach. The sidewalks were full of cheerful tourists, dressed in casual beachwear. It made me want to hurry up and get out there.

The Costa Resort was a tall glass structure looming in the distance. It faced the beach, with parts of it actually hanging over the water in what looked like private balconies. I remembered when I made the reservations the hotel clerk asked if I wanted a special balcony room. At the time I didn't even know Cloud existed, but luckily I had been selfish enough to want the luxury suite even though I thought I would be alone. And now Cloud would be sharing it with me.

The last time I had been to Costa Del Sol was during spring break several years ago. So much had changed since then. More buildings, more streets, more people…It was one of the hottest tourist attractions next to the Gold Saucer.

We pulled up to the Costa hotel and parked our vehicles. While I wheeled the garment bag, Cloud took our other two pieces of luggage. Tammy and Kyle also had three pieces between them.

Hotel Security was very strict and we were asked to present photo identifications before being directed through a special set of doors for new guests. A little further down was the main entrance, where security scanned things brought in by guests.

I wondered the reason for all the security.

As we waited in line to check in, Tammy elbowed me. "Look, there's our lovely family."

I turned to where she was nodding her head. Sure enough, Mom and Dad were standing in the lobby with Tammy's parents and several of our other relatives. My sister Cassie and her fiancé Trevor were also there, as were his parents.

Mom saw us right away and waved. Tammy and I faked cheerful smiles and waved back before pretending to be engrossed in the hotel brochure.

"Remind me to elope if I ever decide to get married," said Tammy.

"No shit." I couldn't agree more. The idea of a big wedding, with people I didn't really care about, it just didn't sound very appealing to me.

When it was finally our turn at the reservation desk, Cloud and I went up together. We had to present out identifications again and then I gave them my credit card.

"What's with all the security?" I asked the male clerk.

"We've had some serious trouble over the last six months with vandals and people pretending to be guests to use the resort facilities." The clerk gave each of us a room key. "Keep these cards with you at all times. You won't be allowed back in without them." He motioned to a bellhop who took our luggage. "He'll take your luggage up. It'll be about twenty minutes before your room is available. You can enjoy a cold beverage and some snacks in the lobby while you wait."

Cloud and I walked away from the desk and waited for Tammy and Kyle to be done. Then the four of us reluctantly walked together in the direction of our families.

Cloud's hand suddenly tightened around mine and I felt him slow his steps.

I stopped and turned to him, seeing the wide-eyed look on his face. "What's wrong?"

Before I could get an answer out of him, Mom rushed over to hug me. "Oh, my baby. Look at you. You're so thin. You haven't eaten." Then she noticed the blonde standing next to me and her grin faded when she realized we were holding hands.

"Nice to see you, too, Mom." I took her arm before she could question me about Cloud. As we walked toward my father, I tugged Cloud along with us. "Hi, Daddy." I kissed him on the cheek.

He gave me a reserved smile, but didn't say anything more. To me, the silent treatment was worse than hearing him directly tell me I was responsible for Joey's death. It was like a knife in the heart.

I turned to Cloud and pulled him next to me. "Mom, Dad…this is my boyfriend, Cloud."

"Boyfriend?" asked Mom in mild shock. "Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone?"

I shrugged. "Must have slipped my mind." I purposely didn't tell her in advance or she would have nagged me everyday, reminding me of what happened with my ex-boyfriend, Pete. My self-esteem was already pretty low. I didn't need her to make it hit rock bottom.

Dad gave Cloud a suspicious look and I felt his hand beginning to slip from mine.

I gripped Cloud's hand tighter. He looked terrified, like he was about to bolt out of the hotel at any second.

"What kind of work do you do?" Dad asked him.

"I…I own my own business."

"What sort of business?"

"Delivery service."

"To where?"

"All over the Midgar, Grasslands and Junon areas."

Dad frowned. "What's your method of transport?"

"Motorcycle."

"And what happens when you run into the creatures roaming the wastelands?"

Cloud looked as if he wasn't going to answer the question. But then he raised his chin a bit and I knew he was going to say something cocky. "I invite them for tea before I cut off their heads with my sword."

Dad stared without saying a word. Then a small smile cracked his stony features as he nodded. "Still a smartass."

Still? Did my father know Cloud from somewhere? Then it hit me. Dad worked for Shinra a few years back and when we were living in Kalm, he was head guard at the Kalm reactor. He often went to Midgar for days at a time. In Midgar, Cloud had been a low-ranking guard for Shinra. Had they known each other then?

"I thought you never made it to SOLDIER," commented Dad.

"I didn't."

"Your eyes…you've had Mako injections."

"It's…a long story."

"I expect to hear it sometime soon."

After Dad walked away, Cloud leaned toward my ear. "I'm going to the bathroom to throw up now."

I watched him walk toward the Men's Room and I knew I was going to get an earful from Mom the minute Cloud left my side. She had been eying him like he was the devil's minion.

"I can't believe you didn't call and tell me you were dating someone," whined Mom. "And that you weren't coming alone." She sighed heavily. "You're obviously sharing a room here." She leaned closer to whisper so no one else could hear. "And no doubt probably having raging sex with him, too, aren't you?"

"Raging?" I thought about my response and smiled. "Well, yeah, sometimes it gets pretty wild."

My sister, Cassie, who came in at the tail end of the conversation nearly choked on the pretzel in her mouth.

Mom crossed herself with a disgruntled sigh. "And what is with that hair? Did he lose a fight to a pair of gardening sheers?"

Cassie leaned toward my other ear. "I think he's kinda cute."

When Cloud came back from the Men's Room, I took his hand and pulled him away from the others. "You didn't tell me you knew my father."

Cloud sighed heavily, his eyes shifting to where Dad was standing with some of my other relatives. "I didn't know until I saw him. I just knew him as Captain Greco and didn't put two and two together. He was one of my superiors when I worked for Shinra."

"I kinda figured that. But knowing each other, that's a good thing, right?"

"I'm not so sure."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say I had a scuffle with another officer where my fist _accidentally_ connected with his jaw."

"Accidentally?"

"Well, he provoked me. Your father happened to witness the incident. Plus he knows I went to Nibelheim with Zack and Sephiroth. He probably thought I was killed there along with the rest of the villagers when Sephiroth flipped out."

"You'll tell him, right? That you killed Sephiroth in Nibelheim and for five years after that you were subjected to Professor Hojo's experiments."

"I don't know what I'm going to tell him. Maybe I don't have to say anything at all."

Not saying anything at all concerned me. It made me wonder if maybe Cloud didn't think we'd be together long enough for him to worry about answering to my father. "I can talk to him so you won't have to, Cloud. I'll tell him the truth."

He gave me a stern look. "No, Tess."

"But if he knew everything, especially about AVALANCHE and…"

"I said no!"

I didn't want Cloud to be mad. If he didn't want me to say anything then I would comply with his wishes. In all actuality, if he really wanted, he could have just left. He had no obligation to stay with me. But I didn't want him to go. "Okay, Cloud," I replied quietly.

Cloud looked down with a frown. "Just give me some time to think about it, okay?"

I nodded and he pulled me into a hug.

* * *

Half an hour later Cloud and I took the elevator to the twentieth floor and searched for the door with number 2048 on it. When we found it, he slid his keycard in and opened the door.

The 300 square foot suite with the large balcony was perfect.

Cloud inspected the Mini-bar first before inspecting the living area where a TV, sofa and recliner sat. Then he slid the balcony door open and walked outside.

The other side of the room contained a king-sized bed, a dresser and a roomy closet. The bathroom had a large whirlpool tub with a separate, glass-enclosed shower. Everything in the suite was high-quality stuff.

I was going to start unpacking our luggage, but then decided to join Cloud outside. Our balcony was surrounded on both sides with a stucco wall for privacy and was furnished with two reclining deck chairs and a small table.

The view of the deep blue sea was breathtaking. "It's nice, isn't it?" I asked as I came up beside him.

"It's great." He moved behind me and reached around to wrap his arms around my torso. His lips brushed against my ear. "The bed's too big though." Cloud brushed the hair away from my neck and lowered his lips there.

I closed my eyes and hummed in appreciation as he kissed the side of my neck.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Then I better not start anything. We told Tammy and Kyle we'd meet them at the buffet in ten minutes."

I turned around in his arms and wrapped mine around his neck.

Cloud kissed my cheek. "Your father seemed a little cold toward you. Do you think it's because of me?"

I sighed. "No. It has nothing to do with you. Things were never the same between us after my brother died. He blames me."

"He blames you for your brother's death?"

"He didn't actually come out and say it…but I know it's how he feels." I pulled away and looked up with a smile. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm here because my sister asked me to be her maid of honor. I'm not here for my parents or any of my stupid relatives."

"And you know I'm here for you."

I hugged him tightly, loving him even more for making me feel better.

Afterward we went inside and made quick work of unpacking our things, putting them away in drawers and in the closet. It gave Cloud an opportunity to look at the clothes I bought him, too. He seemed pleased with my choices…even the loud-colored shorts Tifa and I picked out.

* * *

On the second floor of the massive atrium lobby was the Rainbow Café. Cloud and I perused the numerous buffet counters and filled our plates with all sorts of things that looked good to eat. We found Tammy and Kyle already sitting down at a table near the reiling overlooking the main floor.

"The rooms are nice, aren't they?" commented Tammy. She went on to describe her room and then sat with her mouth open when I described my suite. "How the heck did you get such a nice room?"

I shrugged. "It pays to be the bride's sister."

"Well, I'm the bride's cousin," she whined. "Doesn't that account for something?"

As I continued to talk to Tammy, Cloud and Kyle were discussing politics, which was such a bore to me.

Without even realizing it, Cloud ate whatever I held up to him with my fork and went on talking with Kyle. Cheese, shrimp, fruit. Just to see if he was paying attention, I stuck a packet of sugar on the fork and held it up.

Cloud opened his mouth and started leaning forward, but then stopped at the last second before looking at what I was giving him. He gave me a crooked smile. "Ha ha, real funny."

"Hey," said Tammy as she looked over the reiling down to the main level. "Don't look now but Miss Skank and her meddling mother just arrived."

I looked over the reiling. "Damn. Cassie had to go and invite _everyone_!" I didn't really like any of my relatives, especially these two. "God, I hate them."

Cloud leaned over me to see who I was looking at. "Who're they?"

"The older lady is Aunt Claudia, my Mom's deceased brother's wife and the dark-haired girl is my cousin, Brenda."

"Talk about a bitch with a capital B," added Tammy. "You'll never meet anyone more conniving. She's a waste of human flesh, if you ask me."

"What makes her so bad?" Cloud seemed genuinely curious.

Tammy replied before I did. "She's had it in for Tessa since we were kids. A few years ago she literally stole Tessa's boyfriend."

Cloud looked at me and I knew he wanted to hear about it.

But I wasn't about to go into any great detail. "Yeah," I replied distastefully. "Although that didn't turn out to be a great loss anyway." I watched Brenda and Aunt Claudia walk up to the front desk to check in. Then I turned to Cloud. "I bet you probably want to know how she could have stolen my boyfriend, right?"

He shrugged and pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Only if you wanna talk about it."

"About four years ago I was dating this guy named Pete. We were all at a club one night and Brenda showed up. I could tell right away Pete was interested, just from the way he was looking at her. Well, a couple hours later I was looking for him and…I found the snake in his car with Brenda. That fucking bitch was…going down on him. After that, I guess I stopped trusting people." I didn't tell him how insecure I felt and just how painful it was to experience someone cheating on you. Especially when your own relative is partially to blame for the pain. It made me sick to think about it.

Cloud rubbed my back with his hand. "That guy Pete…he's just a pig, Tess. And so is your cousin, Brenda." He put his arm around my neck and pulled me closer to kiss my forehead. "Don't let her spoil your fun here."

"Oh, believe me, I won't." I looked over the reiling again and watched Aunt Claudia and Brenda exchanging a few words before they each went in a different direction. Brenda looked like she was waiting for someone near the entrance.

Cloud and I got up to get more food. After I sat down, Cloud went to get us all another round of drinks while Tammy and Kyle headed back to the buffet tables.

Tammy returned a few minutes later with a plateful of fruit. She immediately leaned toward me. "Guess who I saw with Brenda."

"Who?"

"Don't freak out. It's Pete."

"You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was. I just saw them together by the salad bar."

I looked around to see if I could see them. My eyes drifted toward Cloud, who was making his way back with four beers. With him was Kyle. "They've been together all this time…for the last four years?" I asked curiously.

"No way. I bet Brenda invited him at the last minute just to piss you off."

Cloud and Kyle sat down.

"I believe it. That bitch." I growled to emphasis my point.

Cloud turned to me after I made the sound. "What's the problem?"

"I'll tell you later."

To make matters worse, the two people in question suddenly came into sight.

Brenda was looking for a place to sit and unfortunately she made eye contact with me. She immediately grabbed Pete by the arm and practically dragged him in our direction. "Well, hello. Tammy and Tessa. You remember Pete, don't you?" Her fake smile was sickening.

From the corner of my eye I saw Cloud look from Pete to me and back.

"How can I forget?" I replied sarcastically. What I wanted to do was jump over the table and beat my fists in both their faces. But neither of them was worth the anger.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" asked Brenda as her eyes gravitated toward Cloud sitting beside me.

I literally felt bile rise into my throat. She was going to make a move on him. I just knew it. "This is Cloud."

"Cloud," she said, raising her finely groomed eyebrow. "That's a very unique name." She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger and stood there literally eying him with appreciation…right in front of me.

I screwed my eyes together and balled my fist.

Cloud slid an arm around my shoulder. "Tess told me _all_ about you," he said with disdain.

Brenda's smile faltered, probably wondering what I could have told him about her. That she was a slut who liked to steal men from other women. "Good things, I hope."

"No," he replied flatly.

Her face instantly reddened. "Well, we'll see you later." She dragged Pete away.

Tammy released the laugh she had desperately been holding. "That was awesome, Cloud."

Cloud turned to me. "That's your ex-boyfriend?"

I wanted to crawl under the table. It was bad enough I had to tell Cloud what happened, but for him to meet the guy face to face…ugh! I honestly couldn't stand the sight of Pete. Tammy was right, Brenda probably invited him because she knew it would make me uncomfortable. God, I hated that bitch. "I'm sorry about all this, Cloud."

"What're you apologizing for? It's not your fault." He leaned in and gave my lips a good kissing. Man, I needed it, too.

After we ate, we caught up with Cassie and Trevor and the four of us decided to check out the rest of the resort. We discovered all kinds of things to do. There were four large pools and near one of them was a Flowrider where the water moved as if it were a wave and one could ride a surfboard on it. There were also a number of tours to different places on the outskirts of the village that could be reached by Chocobo.

We walked down to the beach to check out the surroundings. The hotel seemed pretty busy so there were a lot of people lying around in the sun, so we didn't stay there long.

Next we headed back inside to check out some of the shops. They mostly sold clothing, perfume, liquor and some souvenirs. Cloud and I decided we'd pick up a few things for everyone back home, but we'd wait until the end of the week to do that.

Finally we sat down at another of the hotel's places, the Promenade Café, and ordered espresso.

"I'm gonna be so wired after drinking this," said Cloud. "I might have to go run on a treadmill for a couple hours."

"We're gonna be out late anyway," said Kyle.

"Just don't leave Trevor naked in some parking lot by himself," warned Cassie. "He can't be late to the church tomorrow."

Cloud exchanged a meaningful look with Kyle.

"Cloud?" I gave him a warning look and he returned my gaze with an innocent one.

"You two are not the ones I'm worried about," Cassie said to Kyle and Cloud. "It's Trevor's friends."

"What's wrong with my friends?" Trevor objected.

"They'll make you do things you normally wouldn't do."

"Oh, I'll be fine."

I looked at Cloud again and this time he gave me one of his 'don't worry' looks. But I got queasy thinking about Cloud in a strip club. What if he decided to try out his newfound skills on some hooker? No…he said I could trust him…Then why was I feeling so sick to my stomach?

* * *

**A/N – I know you're reading cuz I'm seeing the hits. Please review and let me know your thoughts. I really need some motivation here. Love it…hate it…need to change it…too much sex…not enough sex…need some action. Let me know!**


	12. Trust Me

_A/N – Hello everyone. Here's the next chapter. Just a side note, things are going to get interesting once we get passed the wedding. I just wanted to establish the relationship between Cloud and Tess before I wreck their world…evil laugh…_

_Warning – This chapter contains graphic sex._

Disclaimer – Cloud Strife and other characters and locations from _Final Fantasy VII_ and _Advent_ _Children_ are the property of Square-Enix. I own nothing but Tessa and her wacky family.

**

* * *

****Chapter 12 – Trust Me**

Saturday, August 17 continued

At 6:00 Cloud and I met Mom and Dad for dinner at Leon's Steak House in the revolving restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. I had hoped it would only be the four of us, but it turned out to be more than that. Grandma, Cassie, Trevor and his parents were all sitting at the table when we got there.

We made the rounds and Trevor introduced Cloud and I to his parents. This was the first time I was meeting them, even though I had known Trevor for the two years Cassie dated him.

The two open seats at the opposite end of the table were near Grandma. I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Grandma. I didn't think you'd make it here all the way from Mideel."

She smiled. "I wouldn't miss any of my grandchildren's weddings." She gave me a once over. "Look at how you've grown."

"It's only been six months since the last time you saw me." I laughed as I sat opposite her, leaving Cloud the end of the table. "This is my boyfriend, Cloud."

She greeted him with a sweet smile. "Hello, young man."

Cloud gave her a small smile. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

She waved a hand. "Oh, stop that. Call me, Winny."

"What're you drinking, Grandma?" I asked as she raised her glass to take a long drink.

"Scotch. I can't drink anything else." She winked at Cloud. "Have one with me, dear."

Cloud grimaced. "Oh…uh…I can't. Not scotch. I think it makes me talk too much."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, there's plenty wrong."

I tried to conceal my smile, remembering how he unknowingly relayed a private matter to Tifa the last time he had drunk scotch. "He can't have tequila, either," I added with a wink.

Cloud frowned in my direction. "I'll just have my usual beer."

During dinner, while Mom and Dad were busy discussing things with Trevor's parents, Cloud and I were content keeping Grandma company. I was pretty sure Cloud was charming the heck out of her, considering the pleasant smile on her face as she listened to him talk about the SOLDIER academy.

"So what rank were you before the units were dismantled?" she asked Cloud.

"Oh…I never made it."

"Never made it? Why not?"

"I mean, I passed both the written and physical exams, but…they told me I failed because I had a bad reaction to the first Mako injection."

"Then why in the world are your eyes like that?"

I hoped Cloud didn't mind answering Grandma's questions. He didn't look distressed, otherwise I would have told Grandma to butt out…in a nice way, of course.

"Well, the truth is, I later found out I didn't have a reaction from the first trial. The Professor in charge of the injections decided to give me a full dose."

"Oh, you poor dear. I certainly hope that wicked Professor was severely punished for what he did to you."

Cloud shrugged. "I ran into the Professor a few years later and let's just say he won't be conducting anymore research for Shinra or anyone else for that matter."

"Good for you." She raised her glass. "To your continued success as a delivery boy and may you and my granddaughter find eternal happiness together." She took a drink.

Cloud and I exchanged a glance. For a second I didn't think he was going to drink to her toast, but he raised the beer bottle to his lips and drank. I followed suit and took a sip of my cocktail.

I couldn't believe Cloud ate a huge steak, plus soup, a baked potato and half a loaf of bread. Where did he put it all and stay so fit and lean? Before he started cutting into his steak, he glanced at my plate. I pretended not to notice as he changed the way he held his knife and fork. He obviously didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Grandma.

As we all had dessert, I spied Aunt Claudia, Brenda and Pete being seated at a table not too far away.

Cloud noticed them, too and he leaned toward me. "Is she going out tonight with you girls, too?"

"No, thank God Cassie didn't invite her out with us."

"Good because I don't wanna get a phone call saying you're in jail for beating the shit out of her."

Grandma shook her head. "Did you see who that idiot cousin of yours brought with her?"

So Grandma obviously noticed. I shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, I saw him."

She placed a hand on Cloud's arm. "Now don't you worry none, Cloud. Tessa has absolutely no feelings for that other one, the little prick."

Cloud snorted, trying to hold back a laugh at her choice of words. "I'm not worried."

"Good. Besides, I like you much better." She leaned closer to whisper to him. "But if you should decide to kick his ass anytime soon, you'll let me know in advance so I can watch him go down, right?"

Cloud smiled at her. "Sure thing, Winny."

I rolled my eyes. But it made me happy knowing Grandma liked Cloud.

* * *

At 8:30 Cloud and I went back to our room to freshen up. We were all going our separate ways. Me, Tammy and some of the girls were taking Cassie out, while the guys were taking Trevor. But first Cassie was opening up some personal gifts in one of the bars. 

When Cloud and I got in the elevator, he gave me a serious look. "You be careful out there. Don't pick up any strange men."

I surprised myself by boldly grabbing him and forcing my tongue down his throat. He didn't seem to mind the intrusion and his hand snuck under my miniskirt to squeeze my right butt cheek. I wanted him to think of me and nobody else, no matter where him and the guys were going. When we parted I gave him a meaningful look.

"Don't worry, Tess. I promise I'll be good. Trust me, okay?"

I kept repeating to myself that I trusted him.

The elevator doors opened on the second floor where I was getting off. Cloud was going down to the lobby where the rest of the guys were meeting.

After I stepped off the elevator, I turned back to him. He winked at me before the doors slid closed. I smiled to myself because Cloud was shamelessly sporting my love bites all over his neck…for all the world to see.

* * *

With only six, or was it eleven, tequilas in me, and a couple other shots, I couldn't believe I wasn't walking straight. So it couldn't possibly be the alcohol. Maybe it was the high-heeled shoes I had on. They weren't exactly made for walking on cobblestone streets. 

Tammy found my predicament quite amusing and laughed hysterically as I stumbled twice and almost fell on my face.

"Stop laughing at me!" I yelled at her, but then started laughing myself.

After we left the hotel earlier, we went down the block to where the bars and restaurants lined the street on both sides. People milled the sidewalks, going in and out of the different places and we decided to do the same. Each bar we went to I had a shot of tequila. I wanted to get plastered because I didn't want to be thinking about what Cloud was up to. He told me to trust him and I wanted to…but what if he was too drunk to know what he was doing? Damn…

The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became…and the more I stumbled on the fucking cobblestone walk.

"Hey, look," said Cassie from somewhere behind me.

I turned around to see where Cassie was pointing. Across the street, in front of a place called 'Lamplighter", was Trevor. He was on his knees, bent over with his head in the bushes. Crouching next to him was Cloud.

"Trevor!" Cassie ran across the street.

Cloud quickly got to his feet and caught her before she toppled over poor Trevor, who looked like he was puking his head off.

The rest of us went across the street, nearly getting run over by a psycho cab driver cursing at us in some strange language, or maybe he was complimenting us. I couldn't tell the difference.

"What's going on?" I asked Cloud.

"Too many tequilas."

I sputtered out a laugh. "Ha! What a lightweight!"

Cloud smiled at me. "And how many have you had?"

"Six or seven. Or eight." I scrunched my face in thought. "Well, I might have had eleven, but I'm not too sure about it."

He shook his head and laughed.

I gave Cloud a once over. His clothes were still on and didn't look messed in any way. He didn't have any strange lipstick marks on him. "So what's going on inside?" I dodged Cloud's hand before he could stop me from pushing my way through the doorway.

I presumed it was a strip club, considering the neon sign outside had an image of two big boobs. My jaw dropped when I entered the dark, smoke-filled room. There were topless waitresses serving drinks. Four completely naked women on stage were grinding their pelvises against some brass poles and each other. Hairy, dirty, greasy men were sitting along the stage, leering at the women. Then in various dark corners were a bunch of loveseats where more women were giving naked lap dances. What a freak show.

Then I turned to Cloud and gave him a suspicious look.

He held his hands up in defense and shook his head. "I swear I haven't done anything except keep Trevor out of trouble."

I looked into his glowing eyes and even in my drunken state, I knew he was telling me the truth. I gushed with pride. My boyfriend wasn't a cheater.

"The guys were making him drink all kinds of shit," Cloud went on. "He doesn't even know his own name. I was making sure he didn't make any mistakes, if you know what I mean."

"Where's Kyle?" asked Tammy as she came up behind me.

"Playing cards in the other room." Then he put his hand on her arm. "Don't worry. There's nothing going on in there. Honest."

Just as he finished the sentence, Kyle walked out of the room, stuffing some money in his pocket. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Tammy and I. "What're you two doing here?"

"We want to see strippers," I blurted out.

Kyle laughed. "What?!"

The sound of a power tool echoed over the raunchy strip music. We all turned toward the stage and all jaws dropped.

Tammy busted out laughing. "Oh my God! Look at that!"

Cloud grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "Time to leave."

I tried to pull my arm away as I stared toward the stage. "Wait, I wanna watch this!"

"No, you don't." Cloud wrapped his arms around me from behind and lifted me up to drag me outside.

When we were outside, we looked around for Trevor, but he was nowhere to be found. We figured Cassie must have taken him back to the hotel.

Tammy and Kyle followed us out and she was laughing hysterically. "I can't believe they do that in front of people. That was so fucking funny!" She was referring to the crude live entertainment.

"Come on, let's head back," suggested Kyle. "I think we've had enough excitement for one evening. Right, Cloud?"

"We kept the groom out of trouble," replied Cloud. "Our job is finished."

As we walked down the cobblestone street, I stopped to take off my shoes. "My feet are killing me."

Cloud suddenly picked me up in his arms and began to carry me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You're going to carry me all the way back to the hotel?"

He smiled. "All the way."

Tammy and Kyle had gone ahead of us and were already going through the main entrance when Cloud and I approached the hotel. He put me back on the ground to walk on my own.

I opened my purse and started digging through it for my card, which I needed or they wouldn't let me back in. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh, what?" Cloud asked as he turned to me.

"I can't find my card." I dropped to my knees to empty my purse on the ground and started rifling through all my stuff, looking for my room card.

Cloud crouched next to me and picked something up out of the pile. "What the fuck is this?"

I stared at the penis-shaped vibrator he held and then yanked it out of his hand. "That's mine. I won it."

"I'm afraid to ask what you had to do to win it."

"A blowjob with no hands."

He frowned at me. "A what?!"

"It's a shot you drink without using your hands, Cloud."

"Oh…for a minute…"

"What, you thought I blew some guy?"

He helped me stuff everything back into my purse after I successfully found my room card. Then we walked through the revolving door.

A security clerk scanned our cards and motioned for us to put our things on the security machine.

When I put my purse on the conveyor belt with the x-ray machine, I watched the face of the attendant as he stared at the resulting images. He frowned for a second and then gave me a nervous glance. As my purse came out the other end, Cloud grabbed it and shoved it into my hands before walking with me through the lobby.

I laughed outloud as we stopped in front of the elevator. "Did you see the look on that poor guy's face? He's probably never seen such a huge penis."

Cloud shrugged indifferently as the elevator doors opened. "It's not that big."

After getting in the elevator and waiting for the doors to close, I went into my purse and pulled out the vibrator. "Are you kidding me? This thing is enormous." When I waved it in front of his face, he smirked. "What's that look for?" I asked him.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me holding that thing like that."

Just then the elevator stopped on the second floor and we both turned as the doors slid open. An elderly couple stood just outside the doors. It took me about ten seconds to realize how the situation looked and I quickly shoved the vibrator behind my back. They cautiously stepped into the elevator and turned away from us. As the elevator started moving again, I looked at Cloud. He was looking down and holding a hand over his mouth, trying to keep from laughing.

Luckily the elderly couple got off two floors later. As soon as the doors closed again, I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer. But what fascinated me more than anything was the sound of Cloud's own hysterical laughter. I had never seen him laugh so hard.

When the elevator stopped on our floor, we both stumbled out, still laughing uncontrollably. In front of our door, Cloud fumbled with the key card, finally getting it into the slot.

We entered our room and I nearly fell. Cloud caught me in his arms. We were both still laughing and he hugged me with his back against the wall. As our laughter began to die down, I started unbuttoning his shirt with one hand and continued to hold the vibrator in the other. I yanked the shirt out of his slacks and looked up at him. He looked at me with amusement in his eyes as I raked my nails over his bare chest.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" I asked with a smile.

He tilted his head toward the object in my hand. "What're you going to do with that thing?"

"It's a sex toy so I'm going to play with it." My other hand drifted down his hard torso until it reached his belt. I undid it and then undid the front of his slacks. Forget the toy, I wanted to play with the real thing. I handed him the vibrator to free my other hand and proceeded to place wet kisses on his chest. As I moved my lips down his torso, I heard him moan erratically. I lowered myself to my knees in front of him, running my tongue along the happy trail beneath his bellybutton. With a firm yank, I pulled his pants and boxers down together, exposing him in all of his glory.

When I wrapped my hand around his shaft, he bounced the back of his head against the wall and groaned. I stroked him first until he grew as hard as he could possibly get. Then I brushed my thumb over the weeping tip before slowly sliding him into my mouth.

Cloud bounced the back of his head off the wall several more times with a lengthy groan. "Ahh, fuck, Tess…"

Five seconds later he shot his load all over my face. It didn't take long at all.

As I rose up, Cloud reached for a teeshirt on the back of a chair and wiped my face. Then he leaned in and kissed me, tongue and all. "My turn now."

"What do you have in mind?"

Cloud raised the vibrator and looked at it for a few seconds before turning his eyes toward me with a sly smile.

"Oh no you don't." I pulled away from him and scrambled backward.

Cloud toppled forward, tripping on his slacks still around his ankles.

I laughed hysterically, jumping up on the bed and dropping to my knees while watching him struggle to get out of his clothes. Then he got up off the floor and climbed on the bed on his knees. "You are not going to use that thing on me," I warned.

"You said you wanted to play with it," he said as he moved closer to me.

I moved further back until the headboard stopped me. "Not the way you're thinking."

Cloud came closer and kissed me. "I won't stick it in you."

"Yeah, sure you won't."

"Trust me, you're not losing your virginity to this thing." He tossed it aside and unbuttoned my blouse, sliding it off my shoulders along with my bra.

I unzipped the side of my mini-skirt and fell on the bed. Cloud pulled off my skirt and then yanked off my thong in one quick motion. There I was, naked in front of him again. He nudged my legs wide apart and buried his face between them. I moaned outloud. The feeling was excruciatingly wonderful and I knew I wasn't going to last very long. Even though I wanted to just hurry up and climax, I tried to hold back, knowing he enjoying himself playing this way. But after a few minutes it was no use. I let the wave of intense bliss wash over me. No longer timid about expressing my pleasure in front of him, I squealed out his name in ecstasy.

My limbs felt weak after it was over. Finally he crawled up beside me and kissed me long and hard. Tasting both of our releases in our mouths was a bit freaky.

After a few minutes of slow kissing, Cloud pulled away and rolled over on his back. We laid side by side in silence for awhile.

"Is it hot in here or what?" I asked without really looking for a response.

"Yeah, but I think it's because we're fucked up. Let's go outside," suggested Cloud.

We got off the bed and walked naked out onto the balcony where a nice cool breeze was blowing in from the sea.

Cloud reclined on one of the deck chairs and dragged me down on his lap so I was straddling him.

I leaned forward and our lips locked in a passionate exchange of hot, wet kisses. Maybe it was the tequila talking or just my own genuine curiosity, but I found myself asking him something I knew I would never have asked if I were sober. "So tell me something, Cloud…since you weren't getting any…what did you do to get off?"

He sputtered out a laugh. "Now why would you ask me something like that?"

I shrugged innocently.

"I did what every guy does. Jerk off four times a day."

"Four times a day?"

"That was on a busy work day. When it was slow, I had time to get off six or seven times. I even yanked my pecker while riding Fenrir on long trips."

I smiled and leaned forward to tug on his lower lip with my teeth. "You're such a liar."

He returned my smile and chuckled. His hands drifted down to my thighs and he caressed them up and down. "And what did you do?"

I sucked on his lips, unable to believe that the thoughts in my head were actually about to spill from my mouth. "I touched myself." I began to roll my hips on his lap, rubbing my heated center against his hardening shaft.

He closed his eyes with a sensual sigh. "Yeah?"

"I did it after you dropped me off that night when we made out for the first time in Midgar."

He opened his eyes again and looked up at me. "You were thinking of me?"

"You made me so hot that night, I pretended it was you touching me." I moaned at the exquisite feel of his hard shaft pressing against my dripping cleft.

A few minutes later my orgasm came first…while Cloud panted and moved urgently against me. In the next instant, with a frazzled grunt he shot his load between us.

I kissed him with a smile. "Mmm…That was fun."

He smiled back and deepened the kiss. Then with a satisfied sigh, Cloud curled me up against him.

I hugged him tightly, feeling so comfortable and secure lying naked with him. I didn't think I would ever feel like this with anyone. As he kissed my forehead, I pressed my face under his chin.

We held each other for a long time on the deck chair, letting the breeze cool the sweat on our bodies. After awhile we went inside and crawled in bed. Cloud was asleep in an instant.


	13. Loose ends

A/N – Sorry for the delay.

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Loose Ends **

Sunday, August 18

I met Mom, Cassie, Tammy and some of the other girls at the hotel spa for some pampering and to get our hair done. Cassie wanted all of us to have our hair up, so it took a while to get all of mine pinned.

When I got back to the cabin around 1:30, Cloud was showered and sitting on the bed, watching TV, wearing nothing but a towel and drinking a glass of orange juice. There was a half eaten turkey sandwich on a plate on the nightstand. "Hey," he said as he set the glass down next to the plate.

"Hey," I said right back and immediately crawled on the bed and on his lap to wrap myself around him. When he slid his arms around me, I sighed. "What'd you do all morning?" I kissed the side of his neck.

"I went running for a couple hours." He pressed his lips to my shoulder and gently caressed my lower back. "Your hair looks nice."

"Thanks." I closed my eyes and sighed again. "I have such a hangover. Can we forget everyone and everything and just stay here in our room?"

"Your Mom would come and break the door down."

"I just wanna stay like this." I wanted to tell him I was falling in love, but I wasn't sure how he would react to that so soon in our relationship. "Cloud…" When he drew away to look at me, my heart literally melted. In daylight his eyes were an incandescent aqua with that hint of bright green around his pupils. I gave him a timid smile and couldn't get another word out.

"What?" he finally asked.

"I'm just so happy you're here with me." I couldn't say what I really wanted to say.

He gave me a faint smile, like he knew I had intended to say something else. Then he cupped my chin and leaned toward my lips, barely touching them. "I feel the same way, Tess."

We kissed for a few minutes before I reluctantly crawled off the bed. The last thing I needed was my hair to get messed up because I was fooling around with Cloud.

"Somebody delivered your dress while you were gone." He retrieved his glass again and pointed to a dark plastic garment bag hanging from a hook on the wall.

I walked over and ripped the bag open to see the dress for the first time. My jaw dropped. It was tinfoil purple with a ton of ruffles. "Yuck!" I pulled it off the hanger and held it up in front of me as I turned to face Cloud. "How does it look?"

His eyes shifted toward me as he took a gulp of orange juice. Then he nearly spit it out.

I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "Well?"

"It's…it's just…fabulous," he said, wiping the juice that dribbled down his chin.

I squinted my eyes at him. "Yeah, sure it is." I tossed the dress on the bed and stripped. Then I slid the dress on and turned to face the mirror. The neckline was too high and lined with purple ruffles that scratched my chin. The sleeves were puffy and stuck out to the sides. To top it off, the skirt was a huge balloon and was well-passed my knees. It was utterly unflattering and hideous. "I look like a giant plum from outer space."

Cloud came and stood behind me, looking into the mirror. "Yeah…but a nice looking plum."

I sneered at my image in the mirror.

The phone rang and Cloud went to answer it. "Yeah, hi…Yeah…" His eyes came up to mine in the mirror. "Really…" A smile crossed his face. "That's great…Okay, yeah…see ya." He hung up.

"Who was it?"

"Your sister."

"What'd she want?"

He scratched the back of his head. "She wanted to know if you tried on your dress."

I turned back to the mirror. "Oh my God, Cloud, I can't wear this thing!" I wanted to cry. Then I quickly went to the phone and picked it up to dial my sister's room.

Cloud sat down on an armchair and covered his mouth.

"Yeah, Cassie, it's me."

"Hi, Tessa. Cloud told me you saw the dress. So what do you think?"

"Look, honey, I don't wanna hurt your feelings or anything, but…this dress. What the fuck were you thinking? Were you on drugs when you picked it out?" Then I noticed Cloud laughing from the chair, his hand over his mouth.

And then Cassie was laughing.

"What is the matter with you?" I yelled into the phone. "You're getting married in two hours. Did you lose your marbles?"

"Oh, Tessa. I can't believe you think I'd let you walk around in that horrible dress at my wedding," she snickered.

"Are you telling me it's a joke?" When she laughed harder, I knew it was. "You little deviant, I'm going to kill you. You won't live to make it to the alter." I couldn't help but laugh along, especially since Cloud seemed to think it was pretty funny.

"I'm sorry," Cassie said after her laughter finally died down. "I couldn't help myself. But seriously, can you come up here and help me? Mom is driving me up the fucking wall. Your real dress is here, too."

"Okay, I'll come up in a few minutes." I hung up and turned to Cloud to smack him. "You weren't going to tell me, you dumbass!"

He raised his arms to shield himself from my flailing hands. "She told me not to because she was expecting you to go storming up there." He grabbed me by the wrists and stood up. "You gotta admit, it's pretty funny."

I looked down at the hideous dress and couldn't help but laugh. I didn't protest as Cloud pulled me into his arms and kissed me on the forehead. "Is it okay if I get dressed in her room?" I asked. "She needs my help."

"It's fine. Be with your sister. This is her day."

"Your tux is clean and hanging up in the closet. You can ride with Kyle to the church."

"Don't worry about me." Then he kissed me on the lips.

"I'll miss you," I said and I meant it.

"I'll see you in a couple hours."

I turned and rushed out of our room in the ugly purple dress, which incidentally earned me quite a few startled expressions from people in the elevators as I took it to the twenty-first floor.

* * *

At 2:45, a limo picked Cassie and I up at the front of the hotel and fifteen minutes later we were at the church.

We were sitting alone in a room, waiting for Tammy or someone to come get us. We were silent, simply smiling back and forth at each other.

"You look beautiful," I finally told her.

"Thanks. And you look much better in this dress."

I smiled. Luckily the Maid of Honor dress that Cassie had chosen for me was more fitting to what I liked. It was still purple, but paler and covered in sequins and pearls. While it fit like a glove on me, the front was low cut, but the back had an ever deeper cut, although it did cover the scar on my shoulder blade. The style was similar to what Cassie had, except her white wedding gown had a mile of train and veil.

"I really like Cloud, Tessa," she said, changing the subject.

I smiled and looked down. "Yeah, he's great, isn't he?"

"Dad told me he knows him from working at Shinra…before all that trouble started at Midgar a few years ago."

"Cloud wasn't with Shinra for very long."

"What does he do again?"

"He owns a delivery service in Edge, but he goes pretty much all over the continent on his motorcycle."

"Really? Isn't he afraid he'll get attacked in the wastelands?"

I smiled. "He may be small, but he can take care of himself."

"So it's pretty serious between you two?"

"Yeah, but…" I sighed and looked up. "I wish I knew what he wanted from me."

"Well, every relationship starts out like that. You've only been going out a couple weeks. Give it some time."

I shrugged. "I feel like I've known him forever."

She giggled. "From what I've heard, the sex is great."

I frowned at her. "Whatta you mean, what you've heard?"

"Apparently your room is right next to Aunt Claudia and Brenda."

I groaned. "Oh God, noooo! I can't believe this. Over a thousand rooms in this hotel, how the fuck did I get stuck next door to them?" They obviously heard Cloud and I last night after we got to our room and were playing rather vocally. If I recalled, I did yell out his name several times. "That means Mom knows, too." I bit my lower lip and looked at Cassie.

She was grinning and then started laughing, which got me started. We were in hysterics when Dad came to get us.

* * *

The ceremony was held at the Sunburst Chapel. The light that came through the surrounding stained-glass windows really made it look magical. Cassie looked like an angel in her white dress and I couldn't help but smile at the image.

Cloud was seated with Kyle, directly behind my parents. On occasion I'd steal a glance back, finding him looking in my direction. He looked devastatingly handsome in his black tux and it was distracting me from the vows being exchanged.

I smiled as he winked at me and I felt the blush come to my cheeks. I had to look away because I kept conjuring up the images of the previous night's foreplay. It wasn't good to be thinking like that in church.

At the end of the ceremony, Cassie and Trevor kissed and everyone stood up and clapped. Then we followed them out of the chapel and threw the traditional rice.

* * *

The reception was being held in the Costa Resort ballroom for nearly three hundred people. The guests consisted of family and friends and who knew who else Mom invited without Cassie's permission. Not everyone was staying at the hotel, only those that weren't within reasonable driving distance.

The photographer set up his camera just outside the ballroom and we proceeded with over an hour of picture taking. First with Cassie, then with Cassie and Trevor, then with my parents. Then Cloud and I took a few pictures together and more with Cassie and Trevor. Mom wanted another family photo and to my surprise she pulled Cloud into the picture. I think he was just as surprised as I was.

As we waited for another round of photos, Cloud's hand gently caressed my bare back and he leaned toward my ear. "Tess, this dress is so…"

I turned my face toward his, our noses touching. His eyes were lowered toward my cleavage. "Up here, Cloud," I pointed to my eyes in annoyance.

He raised his eyes to mine and smiled. "Sorry, I can't help it."

"You look great in that tuxedo, too."

Cloud tugged on his collar. "I'm feeling a little claustrophobic."

I reached up to adjust his bowtie, loosening it a bit so it wasn't so tight. "How's that?"

"Much better."

Alittle while later, while the guests were arriving, I went looking for Cloud. I had left his side for a moment to handle a gown crisis in the Ladies' Room with Cassie and Mom.

I came across Kyle who was talking to a couple of uncles I remembered from when I was young. "Kyle, have you seen Cloud?"

"Yeah, he's at the bar with your old man."

I nearly choked on my own breath and hastened toward the ballroom. Just as I approached the doorway, I could hear their voices carrying in the air, so I decided to stop and listen from a distance for a minute, just to see what they were talking about.

"…blew up the first two reactors before the President decided to bring the Sector Seven plate down," said Cloud.

"How many were in your team?" asked Dad.

"Seven, including me. We lost everyone when that happened. It was just Barret and Tifa and me."

"I heard a lot of people died in that accident."

"It never should have happened."

"What were you up to before you joined AVALANCHE?" asked Dad.

I groaned to myself, wondering how Cloud would respond to that question.

"I…went back home to Nibelheim."

"But that's when Sephiroth…"

I snuck a peak around the doorway.

"You were there, weren't you?" asked Dad. "You watched Sephiroth burn your town to the ground?"

It was time to interrupt. I stepped through the doorway and saw Dad glance in my direction as I approached. "There you are, Cloud. I was looking for you."

Cloud took a gulp from his glass. He looked a little disturbed. "Just having a drink with your father."

Dad turned back to Cloud. "What about Sephiroth?"

"He killed nearly everyone in the village, including my mother. I followed him into the reactor."

"What're you saying, that you killed him?"

Before Cloud could get another word out, I defensively stepped forward. "That's right, Cloud killed him."

"Tess…no…" Cloud warned.

I kept going. "But not until after Sephiroth ran his sword through Cloud's chest. You wanna know what else Cloud got for his troubles? Some asshole named Hojo conducted Mako experiments on him for five years…FIVE years. When he was with AVALANCHE, he went after Sephiroth again because the man just wouldn't die. And not only that, but two years ago, Sephiroth was resurrected yet again and Cloud defeated him. That makes Cloud the savior of the world three times." From the corner of my eye I could see Cloud standing with his head down, his jaw muscles working in anger. I turned on my heel and walked away before I said anymore.

Cloud followed me out of the ballroom and we both headed out a set of the doors to a garden path that lead down to the pool. Luckily there was no one around.

I immediately turned to Cloud and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I just couldn't help myself. I had to say something."

"It's okay." He caressed my back. "I'm not mad."

Tears burned my eyes and I cried on his shoulder.

"Hey, come on, Tess. I said it's okay." He released me and placed his hands on my face, wiping my tears with his thumbs. "Let's go back inside and enjoy the rest of the day, okay?"

"What about my father?"

"What about him?"

"He was giving you the third degree."

"It's okay. He wasn't being a jerk or anything. Like I thought, he figured I had been killed in Nibelheim when I went on that last mission with Zack and Sephiroth."

Now I felt guilty for snapping at my father the way I did. Maybe if I had been there to hear the entire conversation, I would have known there was no animosity between him and Cloud. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I think he's just being protective of you."

I shook my head. "He could care less about me."

"You're wrong about that, Tess. He thinks you blame him for giving your brother the gun that drew the Shadow Creeper's attention. He thinks that's why you left home."

"Did Dad tell you that?"

Cloud nodded.

"Why would he think I blame him for Joey's death?"

"The same way you think he blames you for it."

I groaned. "I guess I screwed up again."

"Do me a favor and talk to him later. Everything'll be fine. I promise."

* * *

At 6:30, dinner was served and even though I was enjoying the company of my sister and her new husband, as well as the rest of the bridal party at the head table, I missed Cloud. He was seated with Kyle and several others. Unfortunately Brenda and Pete were among them.

Everytime I looked in his direction, he was in deep conversation with Kyle and I could tell they were both desperately trying to avoid conversation with the troublemakers. I silently prayed Brenda wouldn't do anything to distract Cloud. It wasn't that I was concerned Cloud would take her up on any kind of proposition she made him, I was just worried she'd make him uncomfortable and he'd blow up at her. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind when he felt threatened and wouldn't care that Brenda was a girl.

Right after dessert, Cloud and Kyle got up from the table and walked over to where Tammy and I were seated.

"Are you two behaving yourselves?" Tammy asked them.

"I'm not going back there," said Cloud. "Please don't make me go back."

Kyle snickered.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"That bitch had the audacity to whisper to Cloud that she'd suck his dick in the Men's Room," said Kyle in a matter-of-fact way.

"What?!" I yelled, knowing the bitch he referred to went by the name of Brenda. "And what did you tell her?" I quickly asked Cloud.

"I said I'd rather get sucked off and mauled by a grizzly bear." That earned him a good laugh from the rest of us.

After Tammy and Kyle walked away, I shook my head and turned to Cloud. "Brenda just won't stop. I don't know why she has it in for me. I never did anything to her."

"She's jealous of you," said Cloud with a shrug.

"But why?"

"Because she's a horrible, miserable person who feeds on making people feel uncomfortable, especially you. If you let it bother you then she wins."

"You're right. I shouldn't let her get to me."

He took my hand. "Come on, I promised your grandmother we'd sit and chat with her for awhile after dinner."

Later on, Cloud and I were standing near one of the large windows, drinking our cocktails and I was getting fairly tipsy, even though I swore I'd never get drunk again after last night.

He glanced around the room and his eyes stopped in one particular place. "Your mom is watching us."

"Really? Who is she with?"

"The lady with the red hair. Your not so favorite aunt."

"Aunt Claudia."

"Should I kiss you and shock them?" he asked with a smile.

"Go for it. Mom thinks we're having raging sex anyway."

"Raging sex?"

"Yeah, I don't know what that is either, but I let her think what she wanted."

He leaned forward to bring his lips to mine, kissing me slowly and lingeringly.

I reached into my glass to pull out the cocktail cherry. "You want my cherry?"

Cloud's head whirled around to me, a smug smile plastered on his face. His eyes were glowing pleasantly in the soft light of the ballroom. "Yeah, I really…really, really want it."

I knew what he was thinking and I smiled back at him. "You might get what you want, but for now you can have this one." I held the cherry up to his lips and he sank his teeth into it.

Then he leaned in to kiss me again. I parted my lips and waited for him to acknowledge the offer. His tongue slid into my mouth without hesitation and I tasted the cherry he had been chewing on. I lost myself in the moment, forgetting that there was a room full of relatives and friends around us.

It was easy getting lost whenever I was with him.

We spent an hour dancing when the band started playing and seeing Cloud showing off a couple of good moves made me laugh.

Afterward we went to the bar to get some drinks.

As we waited, Cloud leaned in and started kissing me. "Damn, I am so hungry for you right now. Let's disappear for alittle while."

I couldn't even conceive the thought of refusing. "Alright."

We grabbed our drinks and when we turned around we both saw Brenda at the same time.

I had to admit, she looked ravishing in red. All round and curvy in her skin-tight dress. Her jet black hair was perfect and glossy and she had just the right amount of makeup to show off her exotic features. I actually felt mousy compared to her.

Cloud squeezed my hand and leaned toward my ear. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."

I gave Brenda some rendition of a smile as Cloud walked away. "So what's this I hear, you're trying to steal another boyfriend from me."

"Steal? I can't help it if they come after me." She said it as if it was only natural that guys would find her more attractive than me.

"You're a despicable snake, Brenda. You won't get anywhere with Cloud. He's not a scumbag like Pete."

"I'm just doing you a favor, Tessa. All men are scumbags."

"So what you're trying to tell me is that I should become a lesbian. Hm, not likely to happen. I think I'll take my chances with Cloud."

"Face it, he'll be just like the rest."

I frowned angrily at her. "You don't have a clue what you're talking about and you don't know what Cloud and I have been through together. Why don't _you_ face it, Brenda, it pisses you off that he's ignoring you. It irks the shit out of you that I finally found someone who actually thinks you're trashy." It felt so good to finally tell her off.

My eyes drifted over her shoulder to watch Cloud walking back into the ballroom.

He walked directly toward me, steering clear of Brenda as he came up and gave me a ravishing kiss. "Come on, there's a chair in our room we haven't christened yet." He took my hand and was about to pull me away but stopped. He turned to Brenda. "There's about six guys in the bathroom waiting for you. Apparently I'm not the only one you wanted to blow."

I was gratified to see her face flush bright red and I gave her a smug grin as Cloud pulled me away. When we left the ballroom, I smiled at him. "Thanks for sticking up for me, Cloud."

"If that doesn't give her a clue what kind of tramp she is, I don't know what will." He kissed my lips when we got to the elevator. "The thought of any woman being so loose like that, to do whatever guy comes along, it just turns my stomach."

I suppose my innocence was actually paying off this time around. Cloud liked that I hadn't been with a bunch of other men. He was glad to be experiencing things for the first time together.

* * *

As the evening progressed, we did more dancing. Dad came up and asked me to dance and when I looked at Cloud, he nudged me to go. So I went.

Dad and I danced in silence. I remembered so many years ago, before the incident with the Shadow Creepers, whenever Dad and I danced, he never failed to make me laugh with his jokes and jibes. The silence was driving me crazy.

I glanced over at Cloud and to my surprise he went up to Mom and a few seconds later he was leading her to the dance floor. I smiled at him when he caught my eye and he gave me a sheepish grin.

"So how serious is this thing you have with Cloud?" Dad finally asked as he watched Cloud dance with Mom.

"Well, it's serious enough. I'm sure you don't want to hear all the details."

"No, I don't think so. What I do want to hear is that he's treating you right."

"He's not the menace you think he is."

"I never thought he was, Tessa. I was concerned for you, that's all. But after you told me he defeated Sephiroth…well, I don't think I ever need to be worried for your safety. He'll protect you."

I glanced toward Cloud and Mom and it seemed they were engrossed in a friendly chat. The look on Mom's face was priceless. He was obviously charming her beyond what she might have thought him capable of. Cloud definitely had a way about him, even though he'd never admit it.

"I'm sorry you thought I blamed you, Tessa. It's not true."

"I never blamed you, either, Daddy."

He drew back and smiled. "Well, I'm glad we got that out of the way."

I pulled him tighter and hugged him. "So you approve of Cloud then?"

"As long as you're happy, Tessa, I'm behind you all the way." He danced us closer to where Cloud and Mom were. Then he tapped Cloud on the shoulder. "Mind if we switch?"

Before Cloud released Mom into Dad's arms, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. That made Mom blush a bit…which was a pretty rare sight. Then Cloud pulled me into his arms.

I slid my arms around his neck and he folded his around my waist. "I missed you," he whispered against my cheek.

"I missed you, too." I glanced over at Dad and he gave me a wink and a smile. "That was sweet of you to dance with Mom."

"She looked lonely."

I smiled to myself, knowing the truth. He was making every effort to get on her good side. I didn't press it. "Dad and I talked."

"Is everything okay now?"

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"And what about me?"

"He's fine with you."

"That's good to know." Cloud turned his face toward mine and he kissed me briefly. "I love you, Tess."

A chill shot up my spine. Did he really mean it? Did he really love me? I pulled back a couple inches so I could look him in the eyes. "Cloud…"

His brows narrowed a bit unsurely.

The last thing I wanted was for him to think he might have made a mistake by telling me. Besides, if I said it, I wouldn't be lying. "I love you, too."

Relief seemed to wash over his face and the side of his mouth curled into a smile. "For a second...I thought you were gonna tell me that…you didn't."

"I do, Cloud. I wanted to tell you earlier today. I was afraid you didn't feel the same."

"I said I did."

"I know." I didn't voice my real concern. Were we really in love? Love and lust could easily be misinterpreted. But how did a person know when they were really in love?

* * *

At 12:30, the crowd began to thin and there were only a few of us left sitting around the head table with Cassie and Trevor. There were more than a dozen empty champagne bottles strewn about.

Cloud leaned toward my ear. "Ready to go?"

I turned to him. "Yes."

We got up and went around saying goodnight to everyone, and I hugged Cassie tightly and we cried for a few minutes before parting.

Cloud and I returned to our room and went out onto the balcony to admire the full moon in the dark, star-filled sky. We did a little smooching and hugging out there.

"I have to get this makeup off my face and these pins out of my hair."

He reluctantly released me and followed me with his eyes as I backed away toward the balcony doors. It was as if he wasn't sure about letting me go. I wasn't going anywhere, just inside.

I took off my gown and carefully hung it in the closet. In the bathroom I removed my makeup and took out the fifty pins holding my hair up. After freshening up alittle, I stepped out of the bathroom and slid under the covers in bed.

When I glanced toward the balcony doors, I saw Cloud still out there. His forehead was resting on his folded hands on the reiling. What was he doing? "Cloud?" I called out.

He didn't respond.

I tried again. "Cloud…"

This time Cloud turned his face toward the doors and his glowing eyes looked right at me. Finally he straightened and came inside. His eyes remained on me as he shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and pulled off his bowtie. The shirt came off next, followed by his slacks. As he came to the side of the bed, he slipped out of his boxers.

I moved over to give him room as he slid under the covers.

He rolled closer and silently moved on top of me, his hands gently nudging my legs apart so he could lay between them.

My heart was thumping loudly in my chest as I realized what he wanted. The only thing we hadn't done yet. I was about to lose my virginity…and so was he, for that matter. Although it was probably going to hurt me more than him.

Cloud kissed me slowly, our mouths soft and wet against one another. He caressed my cheek with his right hand and I noticed it trembling a bit. Could it be possible he was as nervous as I was?

Without a single word, Cloud gently slipped inside me, but only a tiny bit before he pulled back out. Then he rose up on his arms for better leverage and slowly slid in again, penetrating me a little further this time.

I didn't know where he was getting his self-control while I felt like I was coming undone from the anticipation. When I looked down between us he was pumping in small motions, sliding in further each time he went. I could feel my tightness gripping his shaft as he moved deeper and deeper and my muscles scorched with a burning pain that nearly took my breath away.

It was obvious he felt some pain himself as he winced with each pass. His eyes were on me, but his brows were drawn together and his teeth were clenched as sweat formed on his face from the exertion.

Then just as quickly as the pain had come, it soon faded to be replaced with the luxurious feel of him sliding all the way inside me.

Cloud closed his eyes with a groan as he reached his capacity. When he opened his eyes again, he shivered and looked down at me. The sweat on his forehead drenched his hair and it was plastered on his forehead, making him look ten years younger.

I saw a mixture of emotions in his luminescent eyes. It looked as if he wanted to say something, but he continued to remain silent.

Finally his gaze went down between us, where we were joined. He slowly withdrew and in one slow and smooth motion slid back in again. This time he went in without any hindrance and I only felt a slight sting.

Cloud lowered himself back down on me and brought his open mouth down to coax me to open wide. I did and he dipped his tongue in to caress mine. In the meantime he started a slow rhythm, sliding in and out…again and again…My whole body began trembling from the exquisite feel of the motion.

It was only a matter of seconds before I realized I wasn't going to be able to hold it any longer. The tremors came and I cried out in relief, languishing in the hot sensations washing over me. With him deep inside me, my climax felt more intense and complete and so much stronger. Hot tears automatically spilled from the outer corners of my eyes and I couldn't seem to control them.

Cloud sought my tongue again as I continued to sob in my release, humming in his mouth. Then he drove into me at varying speeds…sometimes slow, sometimes fast, sometimes not at all. I wrapped my legs around his slender waist and arched ardently to meet each of his thrusts. As the tremors began again I growled and clawed at his back. I screamed this time when the next wave hit me. Right at that moment, Cloud buried himself deep and froze just before he released inside me with as much vocal appreciation as I had let out.

I loved seeing the expression on his face when he climaxed. It was a look of excruciating pleasure and finally relief. He buried his face in the crook of my neck as he panted for air and rode out the last few vestiges of his release. I wrapped my arms around his head and held him there, our sweat mingling together with the contact.

Neither of us could move after it was over. We remained in the same position for several quiet moments, our breathing slowly returning to normal, the pounding of our hearts gradually reducing.

Cloud finally raised his head and pressed the side of his face against mine. He affectionately kissed the tears that slid down my cheek. "I'm so sorry I hurt you," he whispered.

"It didn't hurt," I lied.

After a few more minutes of silent reverie, Cloud slid off me, but he pulled me close to him. He kissed me slowly as he gently wiped at my tears with his thumb.

I wondered if it was normal for a girl to cry when she lost her virginity. I honestly couldn't figure out why the tears just kept coming. And while Cloud continued to quietly kiss me and wipe the tears away, I loved him even more for not questioning my emotional state.

* * *

Please review. Thanks. 


	14. Practice Makes perfect

**Chapter 14 – Practice Makes Perfect**

Monday, August 19

I woke at 3:30 in the morning to the feel of Cloud's fingers slipping between my legs and protested them for only a few seconds before I began moaning in pleasure.

When I sucked air through my teeth, he looked at me with concern. "Does it hurt? Maybe it's too soon to do it again."

"You're not gonna hurt me. You know what they say, practice makes perfect."

Cloud smiled at that and tossed the covers aside as he mounted me.

We lazily exchanged saliva for several minutes carefully slid into me. I moaned and he groaned.

After a couple minutes, Cloud began a slow rhythm. "How does this feel?" he asked with bated breath.

I closed my eyes. "Ahhmnnnn…"

"Yeah, feels good…" he panted out. Then he reached up to tilt my face down. "Don't close your eyes. Look at me."

We kept the rhythm for several minutes, breathing and moaning and groaning, our eyes locked. Cloud slid a hand down between us and his thumb raked over my most sensitive spot. I bucked beneath him, instantly breaking into an orgasm with ferocious intensity. It felt deep and tight and so, so satisfying.

"Louder…" he grunted out. "Tell me how much you love it."

I shook my head as I rode out the wave. "No, they'll hear." I referred to Brenda and Aunt Claudia next door.

He purposely raised his voice with a wicked smile and groaned indecently. It echoed through the room and vibrated the walls.

I reached up and clamped a hand over his mouth. But he moved harder and faster against me. I had to release his mouth and grip the sheets to remain steady.

In the next instant Cloud released a loud, shuddering groan as he shot his load inside my womb for the second time. Then he sighed deafeningly with that amused look still on his face.

By that time the damage had been done. If anyone had been sleeping, they surely would have woken from that.

I couldn't control my smile and playfully smacked his face. "You are so evil."

We were both spent as Cloud rolled off. He pulled me to him and our lips met in a hungry exchange. He stroked my tongue with his and I hummed in pleasure. Just the taste of his mouth could set me off.

Cloud put his hands on my face and drew me away so that we could look at each other. "Tess…" His expression turned to one of pure innocence and sincerity. "I love you." Whenever he looked at me like that…so fixated…so possessive…it made my insides ache.

I gave him a reserved smile. It felt like love was pouring out of my heart. It ached for him…for his kiss…his touch…his voice… "I love you, too, Cloud." I drew closer to him, unable to bear the intensity of his gaze any longer.

Our lips touched slowly in light kisses. But after a few minutes Cloud stopped moving. His breathing was steady in sleep.

I inhaled his breath and closed my eyes. The question continued to nag my conscience. How did I know if our love was real?

* * *

When I woke up again, it was going on 10:00. I turned my head to find Cloud lying on his side of the bed. He was on his stomach, facing the other direction, the sheet down passed his butt crack. 

I scooted off the bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up. When I came back out, Cloud was still asleep. I went into a drawer and pulled out my red bikini. After putting it on, I slipped on a pair of terry-cloth shorts and walked to the side of the bed.

There was something innocent about Cloud lying the way he was…on his stomach, eyes closed and lightly snoring.

I stared at his mouth…where he was drooling a bit and couldn't help but smile. Then I reached out and gently brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Cloud?"

He jumped a bit and raised his head, eyes half-open. "Whaa…" His eyes focused on me. "Where're you going?"

"Down to the pool. I told Tammy I'd meet her at ten."

"It's ten already?" he asked sleepily.

"You wanna come?"

"Yeah, I'll be down. I just wanna sleep a little longer."

As Cloud lowered his face back to the pillow and closed his eyes, I leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Happy birthday." Then I got up and left the room.

* * *

Tammy was lying on a deck chair and I took the empty one next to her. When I glanced toward the pool I saw Kyle swimming laps. 

"Where's Cloud?" asked Tammy.

"Still sleeping."

"Must have had a rough night."

I smiled. "Yeah, a rough morning, too."

She smiled back and shook her head. "I can't believe you two are together. It's just so weird."

"Why is it weird?"

"Maybe weird isn't the right word. He's been going around looking for the right girl and you've been going around looking for the right guy and bam…you find each other. You're like the perfect goddamned couple, it's sickening. That's the right word, it's sick."

I laughed and reclined to get some sun.

A little while later Cloud came down. He was wearing the black swim trunks I bought him and showing off that gorgeous rippled chest.

I turned to Tammy and noticed her gawking at Cloud as he was making his way around the pool to where we were. "Hey, stop drooling over my man's hot body."

"Damn, I need him to give Kyle some workout tips."

Cloud walked up and crouched next to my deck chair. "Hi."

"Hi." I accepted his kiss when he leaned over to plant one on my lips.

His eyes wandered over me. "Red looks really good on you."

I sat up and crossed my legs on the deck chair. "The sun's pretty strong here. Want me to rub some lotion on you?"

He smirked. "You can rub anything you want on me." He straddled my deck chair with his back to me.

I poured lotion on my hands and began to rub it on his back. His skin was flawless except for a couple of scars I traced with my fingers. Having him this close always made my mouth water, so I bent forward and kissed the back of his neck.

He liked when I did that and his skin instantly prickled. His muscles began to relax as I continued rubbing his shoulders and his back. He reached around to take the bottle from me and squeezed some in his hand to apply on his chest and legs.

Not wanting him to get up, I wrapped my arms around him from behind. As I leaned back, I pulled Cloud back with me so that he was reclined comfortably between my legs.

Cloud pulled my legs up around his torso and slowly caressed them.

I turned my face toward him and started nibbling on his ear.

"Still sore?" he whispered so only I could hear.

"Yeah, but it's a good pain."

"We'll give it a rest tonight."

I bit his ear.

"Owww!" He rubbed his ear. "I guess you don't like that idea."

I shook my head.

He kept rubbing his ear. "I should lock you up in a cage, you wild animal."

We stayed this way for a little while before it got so hot we had to jump in the pool.

We swam together and then I had my arms wrapped around his neck from behind and he moved us both along as we heatedly discussed the prospect of going away for my birthday next February. It was a long ways away, but he had all kinds of thoughts on the subject.

"What's wrong with Mideel?" he asked in defense. "Your grandmother lives there."

"You just wanna go there because they have nude beaches."

"They do?"

"Like you didn't know."

"Scratch that. I don't want a bunch of perverts leering at my girl."

"Only you get to leer?"

"That's right."

"Now you know how I feel."

"Whatta you mean?"

"All the looks you're getting."

"What looks?"

"Oh come on, Cloud. You didn't notice all the female eyes gravitating toward you as you walked around the pool?"

"No, I didn't notice. I was too busy looking for you."

The pool was huge and had sections that branched off in different directions, so Cloud swam us to the secluded section near our deck chairs. He pulled me around to face him.

We shared several kisses and I felt his hand move down between my legs.

Cloud tugged my bikini aside so that his fingers could trace over my folds. Then he glanced around. There wasn't anyone by the pool except Tammy and Kyle. Everyone was probably by the beach. Satisfied that no one was watching, Cloud floated me backward until I was against the side of the pool. He tugged on his swim trunks to pull himself out.

The next thing I knew, he was sliding himself inside me. I leaned my forehead against his shoulder and closed my eyes. "Cloud…"

He pumped into me gently and moaned in my ear. "Ohhh, feels so good…"

It didn't take long at all. The excitement of doing it out in the open…it was just such a turn on.

Afterward we got out of the pool and went to lay back down to dry in the sun. This time Cloud laid down in his own deck chair and promptly fell asleep.

A few minutes later I caught Tammy giving me a sly smile. "What's that look for?" I asked her.

"As if you didn't know."

"What?"

"He just fucked you in the pool, didn't he?"

I bit my lower lip and shrugged. "Maybe."

"Like I said before, you two are sick."

"Oh, and you never did anything like that with Kyle?"

"Kyle and I are perfect angels."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure you are."

* * *

At around 1:00, the four of us dressed casually and went into town to have lunch in an outdoor bar. We were enjoying some tropical drinks after we ate when Brenda and Pete walked in. 

They sat at a booth near the entrance, which was clear across the other side of the bar from where we sat.

When Cloud snickered beside me, I smacked him on the arm. I knew what he was thinking.

Tammy noticed the exchange and leaned closer to me. "I heard you two were loud enough to wake the dead the last couple days. Brenda's been spreading it all around that she heard Cloud howling like a wolf."

That made Cloud snicker again.

"Were you faking it?" she asked Cloud.

"No, I wasn't faking it," he replied defensively. "I can't help it if Tess makes me crazy when I'm balling her."

Tammy started laughing hysterically while poor Kyle choked and his drink actually came out of his nose.

"Goddammit, Cloud!" he protested as he swiped an arm across his face. "Can you warn me next time before I drink?"

Cloud leaned closer with a smug smile as he cupped my chin. "How come your cheeks are all red?" He gave me a hot kiss, forcing his tongue into my mouth.

Maybe I wasn't so embarrassed afterall. Ever since we were kids, Brenda was always ribbing me that she got all the guys and I didn't. She teased that I was a scrawny beanpole, with no curves to attract any attention from the opposite sex. Well, here we were years later and I had a hot guy that wanted nothing to do with her and who did she have? My loser ex-boyfriend.

Cloud slid a hand under my lacy shirt and squeezed my bare breast.

I squirmed. "Cloud," I mumbled from the corner of my mouth. "Cut it out." What was going on with him? All of a sudden he wasn't the shy guy I thought he was.

An hour later, Cloud and I were on Fenrir, driving through the streets and we found Mom and Dad coming out of a teeshirt shop. Cloud pulled to the side of the road and we dismounted.

"What're you kids up to?" asked Mom.

"There's parade on the main road at 3:30. Which is right now." I glanced over to see Dad talking to Cloud near the motorcycle. And then something amazing happened. They both smiled and exchanged a few more words before Cloud was back at my side.

We all headed toward the main road where the parade was just starting.

I turned to Cloud. "My father actually made you smile? What the heck did he say to you?"

"He wants to ride Fenrir. Why does everyone wanna ride my motorcycle?"

I laughed.

* * *

Right after dinner, the waitress brought out a cake with a candle burning on it. Everyone turned to Cloud as she set it in front of him. 

Cloud stared at the cake and then looked up at my family staring back at him.

I nudged him with my foot. "Go on, make a wish and blow out the candle."

He finally smiled a little and blew out the candle. We all clapped and cheered.

I leaned over to kiss him. "Happy birthday, Cloud."

Afterward we all went to the hotel lounge for some drinks. On a small stage, a three piece band played while a young woman sang.

Cloud and I got up to dance, along with others in our party.

"I really like your family, Tess."

I smiled at him. "Yeah, they're okay sometimes."

He frowned a bit. "You're lucky. I never had a chance to experience any of it."

"I know. I'm sorry, Cloud. I don't mean to make light of it."

"You should cherish every moment while you can."

"Are you saying I should move back home with my parents?"

"Well, not back with them, but close enough."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" I asked with a smile.

"More than likely, I'd be going with you to Junon."

"Really? You'd move out of Edge?"

"If you think about it, Junon would be perfect for my business. Any deliveries to Edge or Fort Condor would only take a day instead of two days."

"But what about Tifa?"

"Tifa's bar is picking up. She'd be fine without my income. Besides, she's got Reno to take care of her and I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel."

"You're serious about this, aren't you?"

"I am, Tess." Then he shrugged. "Unless…you don't want me to…"

I squeezed my arms around his neck in a hug. "I do, Cloud. I want to be with you."

"Good." He drew back and kissed me.

At the end of the song, we walked back to where everyone else was sitting. As the next song started, Cloud asked Granny for a dance and her face beamed as he led her to the dance floor.

While Trevor asked Mom to dance, Cassie plopped down next to me on the sofa.

"So how's married life?" I asked her.

"I hate to say it, but it's no different than living together. We've been doing it for two years, so nothing's really changed."

"Except now you're _Mrs_ Trevor Graham."

"True."

"You're gonna think I'm an airhead, Cassie, but when do you know you're really in love?"

Cassie smiled and looked away as if she was recalling a happy moment. "When you feel like your heart is going to burst if you're apart. And just the sight of him makes butterflies dance around in your stomach."

Butterflies dancing around in my stomach…that started happening the day I saw him at Cid's party and we didn't even know each other then. But it was true. Everytime I looked at Cloud, I got that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to be with him every second of the day and just the thought of not being with him actually hurt.

"I can tell you love him," Cassie said, breaking into my thoughts. "And he does, too."

I shrugged with a smile. "We just met less than three weeks ago. How can we be in love?"

"Your face lights up whenever you talk about him."

I literally felt heat rushing through me, even as I watched Cloud dancing with my grandmother.

"See what I mean? You're like insanely in love with the guy. I bet you even tried out your first name with his last name."

Tess Strife. It just flowed so well together. But I didn't want to start jumping that far ahead. Regardless of how much I truly wanted to be Mrs Cloud Strife, I knew that pressuring Cloud would only push him away from me. He seemed to be comfortable with the idea of possibly moving in together in Junon. It was a good start. But even though he said he was serious about it, I wasn't quite convinced. All of his friends lived in or around Edge. He didn't know anyone in Junon except my family. Could he really be away from his friends…away from Tifa, Marlene and Denzel?

* * *

At around 10:00pm we went up to our suite and Cloud stripped out of everything except his boxers. He climbed on the bed and turned on the TV. 

I went into the bathroom to freshen up and decided to put on the boxers I had bought back home, the white ones with the little red hearts and nothing else. After dabbing just a hint of cologne behind my ears and between my breasts, I stepped out of the bathroom and leaned against the wall. "Cloud?"

Cloud turned in my direction and did a double take. "Whoa…" His eyes raked over my nearly bare body.

My stomach surged pleasantly, as it usually did when I found myself the main focus of his sultry eyes. I moved to the foot of the bed and crawled my way upward over him, briefly stopping along the way to lave my tongue over the center of his stomach and to give his nipples a playful nip. When I got to his face, I recklessly dove into his mouth.

Cloud's hands came up to my face and he held me there as our tongues hungrily stroked together. A few minutes into it, his left hand went down my back and into my boxers. He hummed in my mouth. "Mmm…"

It wasn't long before our boxers came off and it felt so good as he slowly drove into me again and again.

In only a matter of minutes we both climaxed at the same time and afterward cuddled together on the bed to watch TV.

I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, Cloud's cellphone rang and woke me up. He kept an arm around me as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.

"Hello?...Yeah, Cid, what's up?...No, you're not disturbing me…"

I closed my eyes again, making myself comfortable again on his warm chest.

"What?!" Cloud pulled away and sat up on the edge of the bed.

His tone and abrupt movement forced my eyes open again.

"But why're they so far south?…Something's not right, Cid…Yeah, yeah…No problem…Okay." Cloud closed his phone and tossed it on the nightstand. Then he bent forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit!"

"What's wrong?" I asked as I sat up.

Cloud didn't look at me when he spoke. "Gongaga reported that three people were killed just outside the city."

"That's terrible! What happened?"

"Landworms. Cid's been tracking their movement since yesterday."

"Can't they be shot from the airship?"

"Nothing kills a Landworm except the cold."

I crawled over to the edge of the bed and sat down beside him. "So what did he say?"

"He thinks they're swarming together with the intention of attacking the city."

"Someone has to warn the people there."

"The city's already under alert, but the Landworms need to be stopped." He brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Landworms just don't go that far south, only around Corel. Something's making them move." His eyes met mine. "I may have to go tomorrow. I've got Ice materia with me. Between me, Barret, Cid and Tifa, we should be able to take care of them. It'll be quick, two or three hours."

"I'm going with you."

He shook his head. "No, Tess. I can't take you."

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous."

"You just said Tifa was going."

"Yeah because she can handle herself." He got up and slipped on his boxers. "I can't fight the Landworms and keep an eye on you at…"

"But I promise I won't get in the way."

"No…I won't be able to concentrate with…"

"I'll stay in the airship," I cut in again.

"Tess, I said no!"

I stared at him with my mouth open. "I don't understand."

"What's so hard to understand? No means no! You seem to have a problem with that word!"

I was surprised by the suddenness of his anger and reached for my robe to hold it in front of me.

Cloud put his hands on his hips and looked down with a heavy sigh.

I got up and started to walk toward the bathroom.

"Tess, wait…I'm sorry."

"Forget it." I didn't stop and I almost made it to the bathroom.

Before I could get the door open, he quickly came up behind me, his hand coming over my shoulder to slam it shut. He pressed himself against my back, pushing me against the wood of the door. "I said I'm sorry."

His weight on me was unbearable. "Cloud, you're hurting me."

Cloud abruptly released me.

I threw open the bathroom door and walked in, slamming it behind me. This was the first time I locked the door. I cried for about twenty minutes. Not because he had snapped at me, but because he was shutting me out. Maybe it wasn't the right time to be acting selfish in this situation, but I couldn't help it. I just wanted to be with him and he didn't want me there. How much of a distraction could I possibly be if I stayed in the ship?

When I finally came out of the bathroom, Cloud jumped out of the chair he had been sitting on. "Tess, I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't know when to shut up."

I quietly crawled into bed without a word and rolled on my side.

Cloud came to bed and slid up close behind me. When I didn't react, he sighed against the back of my neck. Eventually he fell asleep while I remained wide awake and wondering where I stood in his life.

* * *

Please review! 


	15. Sidetracked

A/N – Sorry for the delay, people. I had a brain cramp and didn't feel like writing. But seeing some of your reviews, I was inspired. Please keep them coming, I like to hear from anyone reading, even if it's just a "Hi".

**

* * *

****Chapter 15 – Sidetracked**

Tuesday, August 20

It was 4:30 in the morning and I still couldn't sleep. When I rolled to look behind me, Cloud was asleep in his usual face down position. His left arm was thrown over my waist. I squeezed my way off the bed and walked toward the balcony. Cloud made a sound and rolled over on his back, but didn't wake up.

The sky was still dark, but the hues of dawn were beginning to break in the horizon. The breeze was chilly out on the balcony this early in the morning and I folded my arms around myself.

I thought about my future with Cloud and it seemed foggy. I didn't know what he wanted out of this relationship? Did he want a lifelong partner or just a companion for his bed? Ever since we got intimate, that's all we did. That's all he ever wanted to do with me. Not that I was complaining or anything…because sex was great with Cloud and I was in a constant, heightened state of arousal around him. I just didn't know what else he wanted.

What I did know was that he had a completely different side of his life that he didn't seem to want me to be a part of. I would be safe in the airship, yet he still didn't want me to go with him. Would I be such a distraction? Or maybe he was starting to think of me as a nuisance. Cloud was right. I didn't know how to handle "no". Ever since I was little, whenever Mom told me "no", I would do it anyway. So far I totally disregarded his wishes three times and our relationship was still new. How many more times would I piss him off because I wanted to get my way?

My biggest fear was suddenly becoming a reality. Cloud was already growing tired of me. He had more important concerns. I wasn't his priority any longer. Or even worse, what if he decided he wanted to try out different women now that he knew the kind of pleasure he could get from sex? Maybe another woman like my evil cousin Brenda. Just the thought of Cloud with her made me nauseous.

What made me think that a guy like Cloud could ever really be mine? Because my conceited mind thought it might work out for once. But it just wasn't possible. He was the savior of the world…three times…He could have anybody he wanted and maybe he was beginning to see that.

Tears stung my eyes. It was all starting to fall apart…He knew I was upset and probably already resented me trying to involve myself in his affairs. He would leave me and I would be alone again…with my heart torn into a million pieces.

God, why did I have to fall in love with him?

"Tess?" Cloud's sleepy voice came from behind me.

I reached up to quickly wipe at my eyes before turning around to find him standing at the balcony door in his boxers.

"Are you okay?" he asked unsurely.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Cloud. Go back to sleep."

Cloud stepped out and as he approached me, I moved away from him. He froze. "You're still mad at me?"

I couldn't look at him. "I feel like this is all a dream. None of it's really happening. I'll wake up and not even know who you are."

"Why are you thinking this way?" he carefully asked.

I slowly shook my head and swiped my hands over my eyes again. "I don't know."

"What is it you doubt?" He tried to approach me again.

And again I moved away, just to distance myself from him…his heat and his scent…so I could think clearly. Because whenever he was close I couldn't think straight.

"I love you, Tess."

"Stop saying that," I said with a grimace as my tears came unhindered. "I know you don't mean it."

"I do mean it."

"You say it because you feel obligated."

"I say it because I've fallen in love with you. It's the truth."

"Is it really me you love or…or just all the sex?" I couldn't wipe my eyes fast enough as the tears kept coming.

"Tess, you know it's not all about sex," he said cautiously. "I've lived without it my whole life. Maybe we need to slow down."

"Right, and then what? What else is there?"

"Everything I say is wrong. I don't know what you want me to say."

"We're not going to last, Cloud. You're already shutting me out. Tomorrow you'll be going off to fight and I have to sit here and patiently wait for you and wonder if you're all right."

"It'll only be for a few hours. Why are you making such a big deal about it?"

"Yeah, I get it. I'm a nobody who can't even balance a goddamned checkbook. I'm not strong like Tifa…or…or whoever else fights beside you."

"Tess…"

"You're gonna leave me." The thought made me so sick I seriously felt like I was going to throw up. What the hell was wrong with me? I was whining like a baby.

"You're my normal life, Tess." He took a cautious step forward, making sure I wasn't going to move away from him again. "I've never felt this with anyone before." One more step closer. "I can't get enough of it and I'm not letting it go. Never."

I was backed into the corner of the balcony, with nowhere else to go. "I'm not the only woman in the world."

"You are to me. I can't get this close to anyone else. I just can't."

I felt myself weakening. His face…his voice…his emotion…My heart pounded loudly in my chest. He was suddenly my entire world. Without him I was nothing. I slid down the wall and sat on the floor. "I just want to be with you. That's the only reason I want to go."

"Please understand. I can't take you with me…not because I don't want you there…but because I can't lose you, Tess…" He took a step closer. "I've lost so much in my life, with pieces of me scattered everywhere...You're keeping me whole. I need you."

I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. Was he really saying these things to me or was I just dreaming it?

"I want a new life…with you. You and me, together." Cloud reached me and cradled me in his arms on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Cloud." I cuddled against him and wiped at my eyes.

"It's not your fault, Tess. I gotta work on expressing what I want." He tilted my face up. "Come on."

We got up and went back inside.

* * *

At around 7:30 that morning, I stood in an open field with Cloud. Tammy had gone with me to see Cloud off and she was standing a few meters away near Kyle's car.

As Cloud held me in his arms, he whispered in my ear. "I'm wearing the boxers with the little red hearts."

"Those are mine," I whispered back.

"I know. I just wanted something of yours."

"At least you're not wearing my panties."

He chuckled. "I don't think they'd work with my equipment."

The sound of an approaching airship soon reached us. It appeared over the sea and in a few minutes it landed smoothly in front of us.

"Don't get hurt," I said just before I kissed him.

Cloud wasn't satisfied with just a brief kiss. He gave me an open-mouthed kiss and I buried my fingers in his hair. Finally he released me. "I'll be back soon."

I nodded and absently ran my hands over the front of his shirt. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Cloud backed away and as he turned around, I wondered how he could carry the weight of three swords sheathed in the harness attached to his back. He jogged toward the airship and ran up the ramp which instantly closed the second he was inside.

The airship rose into the air. As it headed away, I walked to where Tammy stood.

"He'll be all right, Tessa," she said.

I tried to smile. "I know." I turned back to watch the airship slowly disappear in the sky.

* * *

I was so depressed, I didn't leave my suite since Cloud left that morning. Even after Mom called and asked if we wanted to do lunch. I didn't tell her Cloud was gone and just made an excuse that I wasn't feeling well.

My cellphone rang around 3:30. I quickly grabbed it off my nightstand and looked at the unfamiliar number on the display. "Hello?"

"Tess? It's Tifa."

My heart did a nervous flip. Why was she calling me? Did something happen to Cloud? "Tifa…is Cloud all right?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He accidentally dropped his phone and it fell down a cliff. He told me to call and tell you we're on our way back."

I sat up in bed and quickly hopped off. "You are?"

"We should be there in about fifteen minutes. We'll drop him off where we picked him up this morning."

"Okay, I'll be there."

* * *

Tammy came with me, bringing Kyle's car again, only because the field was pretty distant. Otherwise I would have gone alone.

The airship came into view and soon made a smooth landing. The ramp came down and a minute later someone stepped off and began walking toward us with a slight limp. I knew it was Cloud, but he was covered from head to toe in dirt and blood and green stuff only God knew what. His spiky hair was plastered flat on his head and despite his haggard appearance, his eyes glowed their usual soft blue-green. When he gave me a crooked smile, I knew he was all right.

I rushed over and threw myself into his arms. The smell emanating from him was disgusting, but I hugged him anyway.

His hands were wrapped in fraying bandages as he held my face in them before capturing my lips in a kiss. But he winced from a cut on his upper lip.

I withdrew to look at his filthy face. "Are you okay? You look so tired."

"No, I feel great," he said with enthusiasm.

It took some convincing to get Cloud passed the security station at the hotel. The guards weren't exactly buying the 'I got into a fight with a swarm of Landworms and saved the people of Gongaga' story. I immediately asked for a manager. The fact was, Cloud had his resort keycard, so they couldn't refuse him entry, no matter what condition he was in.

Once I got Cloud upstairs and in our room, I helped him strip out of his dirty, torn clothes. Bit by bit the extent of his injuries was revealed to me. Nothing serious. Just cuts and bruises here and there. Most of the blood wasn't even his.

I unwrapped the dirty bandages from around his hands and inspected the burns on his palms. "What happened here?"

"Hard lesson learned. Never grab a Landworm by the tail. Ripped right through my gloves, too."

The only other injury that gave me cause for concern was his left foot as he limped into the bathroom and into the shower. I watched him through the glass doors as he washed off the blood and grime from his body and from his hair. Then he just stood under the cascading water.

When I heard a light knock on the door, I went to answer it. A hotel staff member held out the First Aid kit I had requested. I thanked him and was about to go back into the bathroom when my cellphone rang.

I picked it up, recognizing Tifa's number from before. "Hello."

"It's Tifa again. Is Cloud near you?"

"He's in the shower."

"I couldn't say anything earlier because I didn't want Cloud to overhear."

Her tone troubled me. "What is it?"

"Something's not right with him, Tess. It's hard to describe. Just watch him for awhile, okay? I gotta go."

"Wait a minute, Tifa. What's going on? Did something happen in Gongaga?"

"Please, just call me or Barret if he starts acting strange."

After Tifa hung up, I folded my cellphone and stared at it, wondering why she would call me like that and not tell me anything. I wish I knew what she meant about him acting strange. I mean, Cloud wasn't exactly an ordinary person.

As I walked back into the bathroom, Cloud turned off the water and slid the shower door open.

I opened the First Aid kit and placed a few items on the counter. Then I grabbed a towel and walked over to him. His eyes never left my face as I started drying him, meticulously checking every single scratch again to make sure it was clean. "I take it you were successful," I finally said, breaking the silence between us.

"Mission accomplished. The Landworms are now extinct."

"How did you hurt your foot?"

"One knocked some boulders off a cliff. I got careless and a thirty pound rock landed on my foot."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital, Cloud?"

"You know I don't like anyone touching me. Brings back memories I don't want to think about."

I knew he referred to Professor Hojo and his painful experiments.

Cloud looked down at his bruised bare foot. "It's not broken or I wouldn't be walking on it. It'll be fine."

I moved away and covered the toilet with the towel. "Come and sit here." After he sat down on the toilet, I grabbed another towel and rubbed it over his head to dry his hair.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and dragged me closer.

"Hey! Knock it off," I scolded. "I need to take care of you."

"Wanna take care of me, then take off your clothes."

I swatted his hands away as he tried to get them under my shirt. "Not that way."

He removed his hands with a pout.

I carefully treated his wounds, cleaning them out with a sterilizer and applying a salve to start the healing process.

"I heard you lost your phone down a cliff."

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, I guess I gotta get another one. Pain in the ass having to program it."

After treating his palms, I wrapped fresh bandages around them. Then I knelt on the floor and gently felt around his foot for anything that might resemble a break. But I knew I wouldn't find anything. He was right, if it had been broken, he wouldn't have been able to put any weight on it at all.

When I was finished, we walked out of the bathroom together.

Cloud limped over to the bed and collapsed on it with a heavy groan. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then closed his eyes and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

I gathered up the sheet at the foot of the bed and gently covered him with it. What I really wanted to do was lay down with him, but I didn't want to wake him up now that he was asleep. So I decided to just sit on the bed and watch him.

The cut on the right side of his upper lip probably could have used a couple stitches, but I wouldn't pressure him again about going to see a doctor.

* * *

Wednesday, August 21

The next day I didn't want to leave Cloud by himself as he continued to sleep. He hadn't woken once since he fell asleep late in the afternoon the day before. I went out on the balcony and read a book. Every once in awhile I glanced through the glass to see if Cloud was still sleeping.

When I looked again, he was sitting up in bed, rubbing his face and running his fingers through his hair. "Tess?" he called out.

"I'm out here, Cloud."

He turned toward the balcony door and slid out of bed. Before he came out, he slipped on a pair of boxers. "It's 10:30," he said.

"I know."

Cloud knelt down in front of my chair and wrapped his arms around me. "Sorry I slept so long."

I slid my fingers through his hair and cradled his head against my chest. "It's okay. I think you needed it." I loved the feel of his hair when he didn't have anything in it.

"Wanna go for a ride today?"

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

He raised his head and drew close, bringing us nose to nose. "I feel great, Tess, honest."

"Okay. Let's go." I accepted his kiss. One led to another until we were at that place where neither one of us wanted to stop.

After a few minutes Cloud finally pulled back and stood up. "I'll get dressed."

I watched him go back inside. He seemed pretty normal to me. Maybe Tifa was mistaken. Or maybe Cloud was just tired. If I didn't know what to look for then how was I expected to know if he was acting strangely? What happened on that mission to Gongaga? Why was Tifa concerned about Cloud's behavior? What had he done that was so abnormal for him?

Well, I wasn't going to get any answers talking to myself about it. I'd have to question Tifa again when I got the chance.

* * *

Cloud took us southeast for almost an hour before we reached the mountains of Corel. We reached the top of one peak and he drew to a stop.

"Look down there," he said as he pointed.

I followed his finger and spotted something lurking around the shadows near the coast on the opposite side from where we came up. "What is that?"

"Acrophies. Pretty dangerous when provoked."

I turned to Cloud. "Well, we're not going to provoke it, are we?"

He glanced over his shoulder at me. "If I was alone, I would."

"That's comforting."

'I guess we won't be going down that way."

We headed in another direction and finally came across a glade of grass covered with tiny white flowers that gave off a lemony scent. Cloud pulled to a stop and we dismounted.

I ran ahead to a cropping of rocks and crouched to pick a few of the flowers. "They smell amazing, don't they?"

Cloud caught up and collapsed next to me, his back flat on the ground. As I turned to him and raised the flowers to my nose again, he gave me one of those looks that warmed me all the way down to my toes.

Since I could never really resist him, I straddled his midsection.

Cloud's bandaged palms caressed my thighs as I lowered myself on his chest. He raised his head off the grass and sought my mouth.

I didn't deny him, mainly because I wanted him so bad I could taste it. His hands came up to my face and the next thing I knew, I found myself beneath him, his tongue stroking and pleasing mine. As I hummed in his mouth, I felt his need poking against my thigh.

Seconds later we lost our clothes and Cloud slowly sank himself inside me. It felt so good going in, I let out a long, shuddering moan. He started his usual rhythm. First slow, then with more vigor. His arm went under my knee and he lifted my leg up in the air, finding a new angle to repeatedly drive into me.

It wasn't long before a blinding wave came crashing down on me. I let out a loud cry and ripped the grass and flowers out of the ground with my fists. Seconds later Cloud spilled himself inside me with his own cry of relief.

When it was over, he collapsed on top of me. I didn't mind his weight. It was comforting.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"Did everything go all right in Gongaga?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing strange?"

"No." He shifted to look at me. "Why're you asking?"

I didn't want to tell him what Tifa said. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. But now that I did, I had to respond. "No reason."

His incredulous look said he didn't believe me. After a brief staring contest, Cloud pulled away from me and began to dress. "What did Tifa say to you?"

I sat up, not sure what to say. "Nothing, other than you losing your phone." I wasn't exactly lying to him because in actuality, Tifa didn't say anything to me…at least nothing I could understand. Afraid he might leave me behind if he got mad, I quickly began to put on my clothes.

"Then why're you suddenly giving me the third degree about what happened in Gongaga?"

"I didn't know I wasn't allowed to be curious about how things went."

"You asked me yesterday how things went and I said fine. What the hell else do you want from me?"

I glared at him. "What's wrong with you? I'm just making conversation."

He looked down with a frown. "I don't like being questioned."

"I'm not questioning you, Cloud. I just like hearing you talk about what you've done. If that upsets you so much, then from now on I won't bother asking you how your day went." Just the fact that he was suddenly very defensive about me asking what happened at Gongaga only made me suspicious that something did in fact happen…obviously something he didn't want me to know about.

Cloud walked over and ran his hand up and down over my arm. "I'm sorry, Tess."

It was so frustrating everytime he apologized because he seemed to be doing it all the time. I would have felt guilty if I didn't think he was keeping something from me. Why wouldn't he tell me what happened?

* * *

Please review. 


	16. Victory

A/N – Hello all! There's a part in this chapter involving Battle Square. In the game, between each of the eight rounds, Cloud (or whoever is in the battle) is given a handicap. Such as, Command materia taken away; No armor; Turn into a Frog (which always cracked me up), etc. Just because the handicaps were so annoying, and because they wouldn't fit the story, I decided to eliminate them.

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Victory**

Thursday, August 22

In the morning Cloud and I went into town. He went into an electronics store to buy a new phone while I browsed the souvenir shelves in one of the other shops. I bought some teeshirts for Marlene and Denzel and walked back out into the hot sun. Across the street was the electronics store and through the large window in front I could see Cloud looking at a phone while the clerk talked about it.

I started to walk across the street with the intention of joining Cloud in the electronics store.

"Tessa…"

I glanced over my shoulder, finding Peter walking out a shop.

My ex-boyfriend smiled and walked up. "Alone at last."

"Whatta you want, Peter?" I asked in annoyance. It felt so uncomfortable being this close to him all of a sudden.

"Look, I know I've been an ass…"

"That's an understatement." I glanced through the window and saw Cloud testing the functions on the cellphone in his hand.

"She made me come, you know. Brenda did. I wasn't going to, but then I figured I'd finally get a chance to talk to you."

"We have nothing to say to each other."

"I owe you an apology."

I frowned at him. "You owe me more than an apology, Peter." I couldn't believe I once had feelings for this man and literally felt depressed for over a month after we broke up. He wasn't worth the time I wasted thinking about him and feeling that I was to blame for what happened between us. "I would have done anything for you…but you betrayed me in the worst possible way."

"I know, Tessa, I know. I wish I could take back what I did. If you can just give me another chance."

"It's not going to happen, Peter. I'm with Cloud now."

"Cloud. Right, the freak from Nibelheim."

"Excuse me?"

"He might not remember me, but I remember him." He uttered a sarcastic laugh. "Fucking loser was pining for Tifa Lockhart like a dog. He was a smartass without the brains to realize he couldn't beat us."

It suddenly dawned on me that Peter was one of the kids in Cloud's hometown, the ones that picked on him and started fights with him. This only made me hate Peter even more.

"I bet he'd drop you like a hot potato if Tifa Lockhart snapped her fingers." He brushed a finger over my arm. "Why don't we just skip right to it, Tessa? Let's get back together."

I glanced through the window again. Cloud was paying for the phone and he suddenly lifted his eyes in my direction. I could see him physically stiffen. "It's over. I don't want anything to do with you."

Peter gripped my arm. "Come on…give me another chance. I won't take no for an answer."

I tried to pull my arm out of his suddenly tightening grip and from the corner of my eye I saw Cloud through the window, grabbing the bag from the clerk and stalking toward the door. "Let go of me. Just go before…"

"Before what?"

"Before Cloud sees you."

Too late. Cloud came out of the store and crossed the street. His brows were crinkled together angrily and his eyes were flaring like I'd never seen before.

Peter saw him, too and started to laugh. "What'd you do, Tessa, beat the crap out of him?" He was referring to the bruises and cuts on Cloud's face, which seemed to stand out more in the sunlight. "You haven't changed a bit, Strife. Even a girl can kick your ass."

Before I could stop Cloud and explain, he brushed me aside and grabbed Peter by the throat. It happened so fast, I wasn't sure if I had actually seen anything at all because in the next instant Peter was plastered against the wall four feet away, blood gushing out of his nose like a geyser. He slid down the wall and collapsed in an unconscious heap on the ground.

Cloud casually glanced at his fist and wiped his knuckles on his jeans. He gave me a side glance. "You okay?"

I stared at him with my mouth open. "Yeah, I'm okay. He didn't do anything. We were just talking."

"He grabbed your arm. I saw it."

"He was just trying to apologize."

Cloud shrugged and looked down at his knuckles again. "Good, then he's lucky I didn't smash his face through the back of his head." He took my hand and started to lead me away.

"But what about…"

"He'll be fine."

I didn't argue and I probably should have been mad, but all I could think about was what Cloud would have done if Peter had actually hurt me.

* * *

It was my Dad's idea to take a little side trip to the Gold Saucer. I thought Cloud would decline the offer and was surprised when he enthusiastically accepted the invitation. So we packed some things in an overnight bag and were on our way. 

Cassie, Trevor, Tammy and Kyle stayed behind while Cloud and I went with Mom and Dad, first taking the one hour train ride to Corel and then the two hour Air Tram heading to the Gold Saucer.

During the trip, I wasn't at all surprised when Mom questioned what happened to Cloud and even wondered why she hadn't asked sooner.

"I had a scuffle with some Landworms," explained Cloud.

Mom gave him a disbelieving look. "Of course. Then I suppose it has nothing to do with what happened to Peter? I saw him in the Lobby with a bandaged nose and two black eyes."

"That butthead had it coming for a long time," crowed Dad as he slapped Cloud on the back. "Good going, Cloud."

Cloud shrugged.

"I think Peter and Brenda were leaving," added Mom.

"Good," mumbled Cloud. "Can't say I'll miss them." He pulled out his new cellphone and opened it. As he held it up in my direction, a flash followed.

"Did you just take my picture?" I asked and got up from my seat next to Mom and squeezed in between Cloud and Dad.

Cloud punched a few buttons on his phone and then handed it to me.

I looked at the picture of myself. He had set it as his wallpaper.

We spent the next few minutes taking more pictures, but each time I tried to get Cloud, he'd duck away, saying he didn't want his beat up face on any of them.

When we got to the Gold Saucer, we checked into the scary hotel and headed straight for Chocobo Square to bet on some races. Cloud seemed to be getting along great with Dad, even when my father teased him. I think that if it had been Cid or Barret making such comments to him, Cloud would have tossed a few foul comments back. But with Dad, he just laughed it off.

We won a couple of races, but not any large sums of gil. It was just to pass the time.

Afterward, we took a trip on the Round. I had never been to the Gold Saucer before and seeing all the colored lights and the fireworks was a real thrill. Cloud pointed out a few things, including the racing Chocobos and the huge rollercoaster, which I planned to go on next. I hadn't realized the Gold Saucer was so huge. If I had known it was going to be this much fun, I would have visited a long time ago.

The rollercoaster was in the Speed Square. I couldn't stop laughing as I tried to hit the targets with the pistols built into the side of the seats. It was hard to aim when the rollercoaster was tossing me around like a rag doll.

As we headed for the Event Square to watch the current performance, Cloud tugged on my hand. "Hey, you mind if I pass on this?"

I looked at him. "You don't wanna see the show?"

He shrugged. "Not really."

"Oh, okay."

"But you go ahead with your mom. I'm gonna go watch a couple of fights at the Battle Square."

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea," exclaimed Dad, obviously not interested in seeing the show either.

"That's fine," said Mom. "You boys go on and enjoy yourselves. We'll meet up for dinner at the hotel."

Before I could say anything, Cloud walked away with my father. They disappeared in the crowd of people moving with us toward Event Square. It would have been fine if Tifa hadn't told me at one time that Cloud liked to participate in the battles that occurred in Battle Square. Now I couldn't stop thinking that Cloud intended to do just that.

Mom and I took our seats just as the performance started. I tried my best to watch and be interested in what was happening on stage. But I was too distracted by what might be happening in Battle Square.

"Tessa, will you please stop fidgeting?" nagged Mom.

"Sorry."

The uninteresting, monotone voices of the actors on stage were grating on my last nerve. A few minutes later I couldn't stand it any longer. I jumped up and pushed my way through the row of seated people.

"Where're you going?" Mom called out to me.

I didn't stop to answer her question, I headed up the center aisle and left the stadium.

The line of people entering the Battle Square arena seemed endless. Maybe they hadn't started yet. I tried to look over the heads of everyone in front of me, hoping to see Cloud and Dad still in line. "Come on, people, move it," I mumbled to myself.

Fifteen minutes went by before I was finally pushing my way toward the front row. I looked down into the arena and there was a large man fighting a giant jellyfish. It wasn't Cloud.

"Oh," said the Announcer. "Too bad. He didn't make it."

The audience reacted with booing as the man in the arena was taken away in a stretcher.

I turned around and looked through the thousands of faces until I finally found a familiar one. Dad…but no Cloud. I quickly made my way around to where Dad was sitting.

He seemed surprised to see me. "Tessa, what're you doing here?"

"Where's Cloud?" His expression was all I needed to see. The cheers from the crowd drew my eyes to the arena and my heart jumped into my throat.

There was Cloud, stepping forward onto the central platform. He held an enormous sword, not too unlike his own. On his wrists were metal gauntlets, nearly to his elbows. Red, blue, green and yellow materia were embedded in the gauntlets. But he wasn't wearing his own clothes. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit.

"Sit down, Tessa," Dad requested.

I sat down beside him, not comfortably because I couldn't help but sit on the edge of the seat. "Daddy, why'd you let him participate?"

"I didn't let him do anything. He did it all on his own."

"Our next participant comes all the way from Edge," said the Announcer. "Believe it or not, folks, he's requested the Special Battle."

The crowd reacted with cheers and whistles.

The first creature Cloud confronted was a Sea Worm. It stood ten feet higher than him.

I chewed on my nails as I watched him hack at it with his sword and succeeded in dodging its crushing blows before he killed it.

Cloud appeared extremely impatient as he waited for the dead creature to be taken away.

I turned to the score board and saw the name of the next creature. Ho-Chu. What the hell was a Ho-Chu? When the doors opened and a large plant thing stepped out, Cloud smiled faintly and held up his sword.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I stared with wide eyes. The thing's mouth was so big, it could swallow Cloud in one gulp.

Ho Chu whipped one of its appendages at Cloud and struck him in the leg. His blood splattered the floor.

I slapped a hand over my mouth. But not for long. "He's going to bleed to death."

Cloud caste a healing spell on the fresh gashes and jumped forward to slash the Ho-Chu four times in alternating moves.

The fight was over in seconds and the dead Ho-Chu was dragged away to be replaced by an enormous hideous something…The creature was appropriately named Unknown3 and looked like some kind of giant kidney or liver. It attacked Cloud and tried to bite him with the weird appendage where its mouth was. Cloud countered with Fire, which only seemed to anger it more. The Unknown3 went for another bite and Cloud raised his arm to block it with his arm guard and slashed the sword with one hand.

The crowd seemed pleased with Cloud's performance and they cheered him on, yelling all kinds of superlatives describing what he should do to the creature.

"Cut off it's mouth!"

"More blood!"

"Fuck it up the ass!"

Cloud launched himself off the ground and came down on the Unknown3, nearly cleaving it in half. The battle was over and I sighed in relief. Cloud wiped his nose with the back of his gloved hand and blood smeared across his face.

I watched him impatiently pace back and forth. He was so different...energized, like he was on something.

The doors opened again and a giant eel came out. It was called Serpent and it immediately released a frozen gust of wind from its mouth, knocking Cloud off his feet. His sword went flying. The Serpent advanced but Cloud quickly sat up and pointed his fists at the creature. An intense stream of lightning shot out of his fists and struck the Serpent, sending it squirming backward. He got to his feet and shot flames, charring the Serpent to a crisp.

Four down, four to go. Why did there have to be eight rounds? I needed to have a serious talk with whoever was in charge of Battle Square.

The crowd cheered and whistled and Dad was doing the same. In fact, he stood up and whistled loudly. "Come on, Cloud! Keep it up!"

I didn't want to cheer. I didn't want Cloud in the competition. I didn't want him fighting at all. Not that I didn't trust his abilities. I just didn't like watching him get hurt.

The next creature's name appeared on the board. Wolfmeister. Cloud attacked first, slicing his sword multiple times. Wolfmeister countered with some kind of ray. Cloud raised his gauntlet up to shield his face. But the rest of him was hit and shook in violent spasms.

When he dropped to his knees, I jumped to my feet with the rest of the crowd. "Get up, Cloud!"

Cloud stood up and as he turned toward Wolfmeister, he held his wrist out in front of him.

And suddenly he vanished into thin air. What the…

The crowd gasped as a blue ball of water appeared behind Wolfmeister. It steadily grew in size and disintegrated to reveal a giant water snake. Everyone started chanting something.

It took me a few seconds to realize they were chanting 'Leviathan'.

Leviathan opened its mouth and a tidal wave appeared behind it. The wave rushed forward and knocked Wolfmeister over in its wake. When the wave disappeared, Wolfmeister was gone and so was Leviathan.

Cloud re-appeared a second later.

What in the hell just happened? How could he disappear and reappear like a magician? If I had been watching a movie, I would have called it special effects. But this was live.

The next thing that came through the doors was called Behemoth and it was definitely huge.

Cloud attacked it with both lightning and ice. Behemoth countered with a flare that Cloud was able to shield himself against. Four sword swipes later, Behemoth was done for.

The crowd was loving it, but Cloud ignored their praises and went back to pacing as he waited for his next opponent. He was covered in blood and sweat and the blood of his victims. The expression on his face was scary and his eyes were glowing a strange pale blue.

I didn't like seeing him like this…

The next opponent was called Maximum Kimaira. Before I could even figure out what the creature even was, Cloud sliced it to pieces and raised his sword to acknowledge the cheers from the crowd for the first time. He waited for his next opponent.

Proud Clod came stomping out of the double doors. It was a twenty foot giant robot.

Cloud heaved a sigh and held his sword ready. When a hail of bullets came at him, he shielded himself with the sword and the gauntlets. But he wasn't quite as successful with the next hail and was hit multiple times.

I jumped out of my seat and would have flung myself into the arena if Dad hadn't grabbed me.

My concern for Cloud was pointless because he used his healing spell and was back on his feet. He also used lightning and fire against the giant robot. But the thing kept firing hundreds of rounds at him and Cloud barely managed to block them. He was constantly healing himself and his hits weren't damaging Proud Clod at all.

When Cloud raised his wrists in front of him again and vanished for the second time, I expected to see the blue ball appear. But this time the stadium went nearly dark as something appeared to slash at Proud Clod. It was hardly the end. Eleven more phantoms appeared, one at a time to slash with a different weapon.

At the end, Proud Clod shook violently and fell to pieces.

Cloud reappeared. The battle was finally over. He whirled the sword around several times above his head as the crowd applauded and cheered his victory. After a minute or so, he walked off the platform.

Dad took me by the hand. "Come on. Let's go meet him when he comes out."

I pulled back. "Dad, let me go alone."

"Why? I want to congratulate him on a great victory."

"Congratulate him later. Cloud and I have to talk."

He sighed heavily. "Tessa, don't give him a hard time about this."

"I won't give him a hard time, but I will give him a piece of my mind. How could he risk his life like that? Doesn't he care about how I feel?"

"You can't break his spirit, honey. He's a fighter. He'll always be a fighter."

I looked down, hating the fact that I couldn't just walk away from this relationship. Why did I have to love Cloud so much? Why couldn't I just turn off my feelings like I had done with Peter? I looked back up at my father. "Please, Daddy…just go by Mom. We'll meet you back at the hotel."

Dad released my hand and I turned to leave the stadium just as another fighter appeared to participate in the next eight rounds of battle.

When I came out of the entrance, I walked over to a girl making her way toward another doorway. She was wearing the Gold Saucer insignia on her shirt, so I figured she was an employee. "Excuse me."

She stopped and turned to me. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, can you tell me where the fighters come out after they've finished their battles?"

"I'm actually headed there myself. A friend of mine was in the last rounds."

I raised my eyebrows. "You know Cloud?"

"I've known him for a few years."

I wasn't sure whether to tell this girl that Cloud and I were together. "Really? How do you know him?"

"I run the Chocobo races in Chocobo Square. Cloud raced for awhile." She smiled. "We had quite a thing going between us back then. But we're just friends now. How do you know Cloud?"

I couldn't get passed her statement about her and Cloud having 'quite a thing between them'. Cloud told me he had never been with anyone before. Why would he lie to me?

"Here he comes," she stated and waved her hand.

I turned to see Cloud freshly showered and back in his own clothes. The bruises on his face had multiplied and the cut on his lip looked worse. I noticed his eyes darting back and forth between me and the girl standing beside me. It was obvious he knew who she was.

"Hi, Cloud," she said as he approached.

"Hi, Ester."

"You should have told me you were coming. I could have planned to take the day off. Sally called and told me you registered in battle Square so I came to see you."

Cloud came up beside me. "Thanks, Ester, but I'm here with my girlfriend. Tess, this is Ester."

"Oh," said Ester, in a somewhat dejected way. "I didn't know. Sorry."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"Well, enjoy the rest of your stay. It was nice meeting you, Tess."

Cloud waited until Ester had walked away before he leaned in to kiss my cheek. "I thought you were with your mother in Event Square."

"I got bored so I thought I'd join you and my father. And guess what, I discovered you were part of the show."

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I can't seem to keep away whenever I come here."

"You lied to me, Cloud."

"I didn't lie, Tess, I didn't know I was gonna fight until I got here."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about that girl, Ester."

"What about her?"

"You lied to me about never being with anyone."

"That's not a lie. It's true."

"She said you and her had quite a thing awhile back."

"What? I never had a thing with her. She's the one who's lying."

"I won't be upset if you tell me the truth, Cloud."

"I am telling you the truth. There was never anything between us. I raced a few Chocobos and she helped me register them. That was it. I swear." He pulled away. "Why won't you trust me? Everything I do or say, it's just not good enough for you."

Before I could respond, Cloud angrily walked away. I started to follow him.

Just then a helicopter appeared and Cloud stopped in his tracks. Something dropped down over him and in the next instant, he was trapped in a net and pulled up into the helicopter.

I was frozen, staring with my mouth open at the helicopter as it rose and disappeared around the corner. Cloud was gone.

* * *

_Finally a cliffhanger!!! Stay tuned for more._

_FYI, if you're interested, check out my short fic called "A Little Bit of Fun". It's a CloudxTifa romantic comedy. I didn't really plan it to be more than one chapter, but due to popular demand, I'll soon be adding a second one._


	17. Frantic

_A/N – This chapter's a lot shorter than usual, but I ended it here for a reason. I'm thinking about trying something different in the next chapter. Stay tuned._

* * *

**Chapter 17 – Frantic**

Thursday, August 22 - continued

"Was there some kind of insignia on the helicopter?"

I uncovered my face and placed my trembling hands on my lap before looking up to respond to Reno's question. "It was the Shinra logo. I'd recognize it anywhere."

"Reno, what's going on?" asked Tifa.

We were all on the bridge of Cid's airship. Cid, Reno, Tifa, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Mom and Dad. After Cloud was taken at Battle Square, I immediately called Tifa. Within a couple hours they all came to the Gold Saucer. I told them what I saw and now we were trying to figure out who could be behind it all.

Reno shook his head. "I don't know, man. It can't be any of the Turks."

"What about Rufus?" asked Vincent from where he stood near the window.

"No way. Rufus is indebted to Spike. He'd never be involved in kidnapping him."

Barret squeezed his massive fist in anger. "So if it ain't the Shinra, then who the hell is it?"

"Cloud has no living enemies left," said Tifa. "At least none that I know of."

"What about dead ones?" asked Cid. Everyone turned to him as he continued. "Dead enemy number one, Sephiroth. Am I the only one who's noticed he's made a living out of coming back to life? Then the shit for brains, idiot clones from last year. One of them could have survived the blast." He counted them off on his hands as he went. "Don Corneo, the pervert from Wall Market in Sector Six, although he's too stupid to figure out a way to survive that fall in Wutai." He snapped his fingers. "What about that fucked in the head scientist who used to work for Shinra?"

"Professor Hojo," I mumbled and a shiver ran down my spine.

Tifa shook her head. "No, we killed him. He's dead. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, but not a hundred percent positive, Tifa," piped Barret. "We left him lying in a pool of blood before we left for the Northern Crater to go after Sephiroth."

Vincent walked toward Reno. "Is it possible Professor Hojo could still be operating in the old Shinra headquarters?"

Reno shrugged. "The place was abandoned after the explosion from Diamond Weapon's blasts. None of us ever went back there after we got Rufus out. Hojo had some weird shit in his labs. He could have easily healed himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still alive."

Dad spoke for the first time since we all boarded the Shera. "I remember Hojo from my days as a Shinra captain. It was around the time the new SOLDIER recruits were getting their first Mako injection. Cloud had some weird reaction to it. Rumors went around that Cloud was given three times more Mako than the others. Sometime later I confronted Hojo about it, but he told me to mind my own business. I should have stuck to my guns and investigated it further."

Tifa sighed. "It doesn't make any sense. Hojo referred to Cloud as a miserable failure."

"Yeah, a failed experiment," added Barret.

"Did any of the records at Shinra headquarters survive the blasts?" I asked. "We can look for Cloud's file and see what Hojo wrote in it. Maybe there's a clue that could tell us what Hojo wants with Cloud." I turned to Reno. "Or are we pursuing a dead end?"

Reno shrugged again. "Hey, maybe Hojo's holed up there with some of his experimental goons. We can make sure he stays dead this time around."

I walked over to Cid at the ship's controls. "We need to get Cloud's motorcycle at Costa Del Sol. I'm not leaving it there. Then from there we can head straight for Midgar."

Dad held up a hand. "Now wait a minute, Tessa. You're not going with these people."

"Why not?" I protested.

"They've got experience in this sort of thing. You don't. It'll be too dangerous."

Why was everyone always trying to protect me? "There's no way in hell anyone's going to stop me from looking for Cloud. I'll go out on my own if I have to. I've been to Midgar. I know where Shinra's headquarters are."

Cid placed an arm around my shoulder. "We're behind you on this, kid."

Mom's face paled. "Are you serious? Do something, Greg. Don't let these hooligans take my baby."

I rolled my eyes in anger.

* * *

Back at Costa Del Sol, I watched Vincent drive Cloud's motorcycle to the airship and then up the ramp. Barret and Cid had my suitcases, which included Cloud's belongings too.

After saying goodbye to my family, I turned to Tammy. "I'm not sure if I'll be home when you get there."

Tammy hugged me tightly. "You'll find him, Tessa. You've got the best in the business helping you."

With a final good-bye to everyone, I boarded the airship with the others. We were soon airborne again and on our way back to Edge.

About halfway home, Tifa and I were in the galley. She made me a cup of hot tea.

I felt so cold and even though I had on a teeshirt and a sweatshirt belonging to Cloud, I couldn't seem to get warm enough. I wrapped my arms around myself, inhaling the scent of Cloud emanating from the sweatshirt. No matter how much I cried, there seemed to still be more tears to shed. "I can't help feeling it's all my fault, Tifa."

She handed me the cup of tea.

I looked up at her, my vision blurred. "I accused him of lying to me because someone told me she had a thing with him awhile back."

"Who?"

"Some girl at the Gold Saucer. She said something about working at the Chocobo races."

"You mean Ester?"

"I believed her story more than Cloud's?" I wiped at my eyes. "How could I do that to him?"

Tifa leaned on the counter beside me. "Ester's just a stupid girl."

"He got mad and walked away from me. If I had just kept my mouth shut…"

"Tess, no matter what did or didn't happen, whoever kidnapped Cloud would have done it regardless. Maybe they would have taken you, too."

I looked down. "I wish they had."

"Then we never would have known what happened." She shook her head in frustration and started to pace. "I can't help but feel this might all tie with what happened at Gongaga."

I looked up at her. I couldn't believe I had forgotten to even ask what happened. "Please tell me what happened?"

Tifa sighed heavily and leaned on the opposite counter. "Everything was going fine at first. Then we were finishing off the Landworms…or rather, Cloud was. He was like a one-man show, cutting them down like they were barely there. After he killed the last one, he kept bringing his sword down on it…over and over…even though it was dead. It was like something inside him just…snapped, I guess. Barret approached and Cloud turned on him."

I couldn't believe what Tifa was telling me.

"Cloud would have killed him if Barret hadn't blocked the blow with his gun arm. Then all of a sudden Cloud collapsed and he was out for a couple hours before he woke up and was his normal self again. But I'll never forget that weird glow to his eyes while he was fighting…I'd never seen him like that before."

"He was like that in the Battle arena. And back at Costa Del Sol, he smashed my ex-boyfriend's nose into his face."

Tifa looked surprised.

"What's wrong with him, Tifa? Why was he acting this way?"

"Cloud likes to fight, but it's always for the good of mankind. What did your ex-boyfriend do to get Cloud so upset?"

"Peter and I were just talking and when he grabbed my arm, Cloud totally lost it and nearly killed him, then acted like it was nothing. "

"It's gotta be Hojo's doing. Cloud's never acted this violently before. Well, at least not for minor things. Are you sure that's all your ex-boyfriend did?"

"Yes." I wrapped my arms around myself again and shivered. "He's done terrible things to Cloud before."

"I know. If it wasn't for Zack, Cloud might not have gotten away from Hojo." She sighed again. "I wonder how things would have gone if Zack was still alive."

"You knew him?"

"Not for very long. I was only fifteen when Zack came to Nibelheim with Sephiroth and Cloud. Although at the time I didn't know it was Cloud. He didn't want me or anyone else to know he never made it into SOLDIER. Anyway, Zack was a lot like how Cloud is now, except Zack smiled and joked a lot." She looked up at me. "Not that I think Cloud's a dud or anything. I just wish he'd lighten up and laugh more."

Tifa was right. Cloud seldom laughed. The only time I saw him laugh outloud was in the elevator, the night the old couple stepped in while I was holding a rather large sex toy. If Cloud hadn't been kidnapped, I would have enjoyed telling Tifa the story. I just didn't feel like bringing up anything funny.

Yuffie poked her head into the galley. "Cid sent me to get you two. We're almost there."

We followed Yuffie through the main corridor and up into the bridge.

I stared out the large windows, seeing the dark and distinguishable shape of the demolished Shinra headquarters building in Midgar. As the airship approached it, I wondered if we were actually on the right path. What if we were wrong? What if Hojo wasn't behind this at all? And if it wasn't him, then who could have kidnapped Cloud?

"Why would anyone wanna still live in this dump for?" screeched Yuffie.

"People still live here?" I asked in surprise, seeing an occasional pinpoint of light in the surrounding area. When Cloud had brought me to see Midgar over a week ago, we had driven around for a couple hours and not once did I see another living soul.

"You can call it the scum of the world," replied Cid. "Night crawlers. You'll never see them during the day."

Night crawlers. The name alone made a cold shiver run up my spine. If I had known there was anyone lurking around in the dark the night Cloud and I were stuck there in the rain, I would have told him to take me home no matter how soaked we would get on his motorcycle.

Reno stood beside Cid and pointed to something out the window. "Pull around there. The helicopter pad should still be intact."

"I'm gonna do a sweep," said Cid as he spun the wheel around to turn the airship. "Hey, Vincent, check the sensors for lifeforms in the building."

I followed Tifa to where Vincent stood at a console. He pushed a series of buttons and a screen came to life, revealing a blue skeletal image of the Shinra building. Scattered throughout were yellow dots.

"There's multiple signals," reported Vincent. "Around thirty or so."

"Is there any way to tell friend from foe?" I asked Vincent. "I mean, we don't wanna storm in on a family having dinner in one of the offices, right?"

He turned to look over his shoulder at me. "Now isn't a good time to trust anyone. But we usually don't storm in. Our movements are always very calculated."

Cid made an obscene sound. "Who're you trying to kid? We're louder than a fucking grenade going off in a gong factory."

Barret pounded a fist on a reiling. "You need to upgrade your damn equipment on this bucket of bolts, Cid. If ya had better sensors, we'd be able to find Spike for sure."

"Hey, you don't like my ship? Then take a flying leap, asshole!"

I rolled my eyes, wondering how these guys had ever managed to save the world with all their bickering. I just hoped they weren't going to do something stupid that would get Cloud killed.


	18. Falling Fast

_A/N – I decided to add a part in Cloud's POV and noted it in the beginning of the chapter. I'm not sure yet, but I may use his POV again in other parts of the story. I'm just not sure yet. Hope you enjoy it._

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Falling Fast**

Sunday, August 25 – Cloud's POV

I woke up with a bitter taste in my mouth…I remembered the taste, like a bad dream. But that had been a long time ago. It was the taste of Mako, when I had that first injection in the academy.

When I opened my eyes, I didn't recognize where I was. I got up from the small cot and looked around. A nearly seamless room with dingy brown walls and a metal door. I tried the handle and it didn't budge, just as I suspected.

Where had I been before this? In Gongaga. No…that wasn't it. I was there recently, but not yesterday. So where had I been? I was in Nibelheim…or maybe Midgar. My arm hurt like hell. When I rolled up my sleeve to look at it, I found a small red mark. Someone had jabbed me with a needle. Was this why I tasted Mako? Did I get injected again?

I was about to slam my fist on the door when I heard a shuffle on the other side. Think fast, think fast. I moved back to the cot and laid down on it, closing my eyes to pretend to still be asleep. The door clanked open. Footsteps moved toward the cot and stopped. It took every ounce of patience in me to just lie still…to wait for the right moment.

Someone was breathing on me. Stinking breath. I opened my eyes and found a pair of red ones staring back at me. Pale skin, patches of missing hair…one of Hojo's quick job experiments. I jumped up and slammed my head into his chin. As he fell back, I took him down with a left hook and bolted for the door.

I barely got a foot out when something heavy tackled me to the floor. Then I heard the click of a pistol, followed by the feel of a cold barrel against my cheek.

"Try anything funny again and I'll widen your cake hole."

From the corner of my eye, I made out a hairy man in a sickly green suit. There was something wrong with his face. When I turned to get a better look, I figured out what it was. His skin looked like it had come in contact with some kind of acid not too long ago. Half his face was melted away.

"Get up," he said. "Slowly."

As I got up, he kept the pistol barrel on my cheek. When I looked ahead, two more goons showed up, each packing a pistol. What the fuck was this place? The guy with the red eyes came out of the other room, rubbing his jaw. He gave me lethal look, baring some pretty sharp teeth.

"Serves you right, getting your ass kicked," said Face Burn behind me. "You should have been more cautious with him, just like the boss said."

Red Eyes growled in suppresses rage. Damn, he was ugly.

"Move it," said Face Burn

I received a shove when I didn't move right away.

The hallway was long, with lots of rooms on either side along the way. Where was I before this? I was fighting. Yeah…Battle Square. That's it, that's where I was. I was at the Gold Saucer. With…who? Tifa? No, someone closer than that. But who could be closer to me than Tifa?

Tess…my girlfriend. Yeah, I had a girlfriend named Tess. Just thinking of her gave me goosebumps. Then I had a disturbing thought. Did they have her, too? I was afraid to ask…but I had to know she was safe.

"What'd you do with her?"

Face Burn chuckled. "If you're referring to your little playmate, let's just say she's alive. But she won't be if you don't cooperate like a good boy."

Shit. They had Tess. Or was he making it up just to keep me in line? I wasn't going to take a chance and risk her life if they did have her.

Who was behind all of this? What did they want with me?

Face Burn poked me with the pistol. "Door on the left."

I went through the doorway and stopped in my tracks when I saw an all-too-familiar face.

Hojo.

"I'm pleased to see you've finally woken," he said in that chuckling, sneaky voice that grated on my nerves.

Finally? How long was I out? But I didn't dwell on it. A sick feeling came over me as I looked around the lab…Mako containers, computer consoles, smoking and bubbling test tubes. This wasn't going to be pleasant. "We left you for dead."

"Hee, hee, hee. I play a good rendition of dead, wouldn't you agree?"

I tried to remember what happened when we thought we killed Hojo at Shinra headquarters. But we were in such a hurry to get after Sephiroth, I don't recall if we ever checked to make sure Hojo was actually dead.

"Bring him to the chair," said Hojo.

Face Burn pushed me forward, toward some equipment in a corner. I stared wide-eyed at what Hojo referred to as 'the chair'. It looked like an octopus, with eight different arms…something sharp or pointy attached to each one.

Hojo chuckled. "Trust me when I say you will feel everything. This time I'll finish what I initially intended for you. Instead of a failure, you'll be my greatest accomplishment. Greater even than Sephiroth. Hee, hee, hee."

I fought against Face Burn and three others, struggling to keep them from putting me in that chair. Managing to get one of my arms free, I punched Face Burn in the nose, blood splattering everywhere. Red Eyes hit me in response and it wasn't with his fist. I was seeing stars and noticed he had whacked me with a pistol. My knees hit the floor and I spit up some blood. Before I knew it, they had me in the chair, strapping my wrists and ankles. Finally a strap went around my neck, holding me down. All I could do was move my eyes and they kept focusing on the various needles and knives attached to the chair's arms. I was seriously scared. What was Hojo going to do to me?

* * *

Saturday, September 14

Days turned into weeks and there was still no sign of Cloud and no clue as to whether Hojo was the one responsible for Cloud's disappearance. What I did learn from files in cabinets at Shinra's old headquarters was that Cloud was injected with triple the normal first time dose of Mako. Hojo's notes went on to say he planned to give Cloud another round. But it looked like he didn't get a chance when Cloud was assigned to accompany Sephiroth and Zack to Nibelheim.

I shoved the keyboard away in frustration. "This is pointless." I had been trying to read the encrypted files on Professor Hojo computer hard drive for what seemed like forever. "I should be out there looking for Cloud with the others," I said to the empty, ransacked office.

My cellphone suddenly rang and I nearly hit the ceiling. The display said it was Cid.

"Yeah, Cid."

"Get up here to the ship. We found him!"

I jumped out of the seat and ran as fast as my feet could carry me. It took about five minutes of climbing stairs with the elevators not functioning in the building. When I reached the helicopter pad, the Shera was ready to leave. Tifa approached from another direction. We made it to the ramp at the same time and both barely had our feet onboard before the ship left the ground.

Cid had a determined look on his face as he blasted the airship out of Midgar.

I rushed over to him with Tifa at my heels. "Where was he? Is he alright?"

"Don't know to both," he replied through clenched teeth.

I had grown to know Cid Highwind very well in the last couple weeks and learned to know when to keep quiet. Now was one of those times. Unfortunately I had zero patience now that I knew Cloud was found. "Who found him? Barrett? Wasn't he searching the Forgotten Capital? Why didn't he call me?"

"Goddammit, shut up and sit down!"

As we continued to fly, I realized we weren't heading for the Forgotten Capital. It was more like Nibelheim, which had been Vincent's search territory. But Vincent had returned a week ago, saying he hadn't found anything at Nibelheim. Only a few people.

I glanced at Tifa and knew she figured out where we were headed, too. "How long has it been since you've been back there?"

"I never went back after finding out the people living there were all a hoax…just to make Cloud and I think we were crazy to think Sephiroth burned the town down to the ground."

I shook my head. "But Vincent said he didn't find any sign of Cloud. I wonder what made him go back."

When Tifa and I both looked toward Cid, he gave us an exasperated look. "How the hell should I know what made him decide to go back."

My feet just couldn't seem to keep still. I was pacing like an addict waiting for their fix. That's what it was. I needed to see Cloud. I needed to see him and touch him. It felt like an eternity had passed since the last time I saw him. I needed to apologize for acting like a jealous idiot and not trusting him. "Can't you make this thing go faster, Cid?"

Wrong thing to say. "Look, I'm about two seconds away from shooting your ass out the fucking cannon. I'd expect shit from Yuffie, but not you. You're getting on my last nerve, kid."

I kept my mouth shut the rest of the trip, only because I didn't doubt Cid would do what he said.

* * *

An hour later the airship eased down just outside the small town of Nibelheim. Cid, Tifa and I disembarked and headed for the path leading into town. 

It was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. From where I stood, it seemed like the town was made up of only a handful of cottages and nothing else. There couldn't have been more than a hundred people originally living there. Sitting on a hill behind the cottages was a large mansion surrounded by an iron fence. This was the Shinra mansion Cloud had told me about.

As we walked toward the center of town, I spotted Vincent's familiar red cape. He stood in his usual stance, arms folded.

I walked directly up to him. "You found Cloud?"

He gave me a sideways glance. "Don't be surprised by the way he looks."

"Where is he?"

Vincent nodded to something behind me.

I turned around and looked at an old wooden water tower. My eyes followed it up to the top. There was Cloud. My jaw dropped when I saw the condition he was in.

He was crouched at the edge of the wooden platform, like he was about to jump. In his hand was a long-bladed knife. Dried blood matted his hair. It was all over his bruised and battered face. He wore what looked like hospital scrubs, but they might have been white at one time and were now covered in blood and something ghastly green.

"Cloud!" I was about to run toward the water tower ladder, but Vincent grabbed me from behind. "Vincent, what're you doing? Let go of me."

"You don't want to go up there, Tessa."

I struggled to free myself from Vincent's grip on my arms. "Why the hell not?"

"See that small sword in his hand? He won't hesitate to use it on you. He's already threatened me with it, every time I try to go up there."

I looked up at Cloud. He was looking off somewhere, as if he was hearing voices. "Cloud, can you hear me?"

He didn't react to the sound of my voice, but I did notice him grip the handle of the short sword tighter.

"What's wrong with him, Vincent?"

"A lot." When Cid and Tifa approached, Vincent acknowledged them and nodded toward the mansion. "I found over a dozen bodies in there…killed by what looks like that sword in his hand."

"Good guys or bad guys?" asked Cid.

"I'm leaning toward bad guys, judging by what else I found."

"Was Hojo behind all of this?"

"Yeah. He's dead."

"Sure about that?"

"Quite sure, unless he knows how to reattach his own head."

I didn't feel like listening to anymore or the gory details. All I cared about was getting Cloud some medical attention. While Cid and Tifa continued to question Vincent on what he found in the Shinra mansion, I moved closer to the water tower and looked up at Cloud. "Cloud, please come down from there."

"Stay away!" he suddenly yelled out.

That drew everyone else's attention, but I wasn't going to be put off. "Look at me, Cloud. It's me. Tess."

"I don't know you. I don't know any of you!"

I studied his expression. He looked angry and scared and in serious pain. He wouldn't look at me or anyone else for that matter.

Tifa stepped forward. "What about me, Cloud? Don't you know me?"

His eyes were still averted as he frowned. "Ti…Tifa…"

She turned to Vincent and he gave her a nod. Then she proceeded to cautiously climb up the ladder.

Cloud immediately moved away from the edge of the wooden platform and held the small sword in a threatening manner as Tifa climbed to the top.

"It's okay, Cloud," she said soothingly.

"I…I don't know how I…got here. I was…on my way to…Midgar. To join the academy."

Tifa knelt down a few feet away from him. "Why don't you put the sword down, Cloud? We're here to help you."

Cloud dropped the sword and threw himself at Tifa. For a second I thought he was attacking her. But then I saw his arms were wrapped around her waist. In the next instant he was wailing like I'd never seen a man cry before. Tifa tried to hug him but he howled in pain, no matter where she tried to touch him. Whatever Hojo did to Cloud in the three weeks he was captive, it had to have been bad.

We all knew about Cloud's aversion to doctors so it was decided he'd be taken to Cid's house, even though he should have been in a hospital, in Intensive Care. But Vincent was convinced he could heal Cloud with the use of some materia. I was skeptical, but I wasn't the one making all the decisions, so I had no choice but to go along with whatever everyone else wanted to do.

* * *

Tuesday, September 17

Cloud's treatment had started right away and I suffered through three days of hearing him screaming in pain from the next room. Each time I jumped up with the intention of storming in there to find out what the hell Vincent was doing to him. But Shera stopped me and told me Vincent knew what he was doing. But I was so scared for Cloud. How could he be screaming and crying nonstop for two days? And what kind of treatment was Vincent using that would make Cloud cry out like that? It almost sounded like he was being tortured.

Then I had to endure the hours of him desperately crying out Tifa's name, begging for her to help him. She had greater trust in Vincent, but I knew she was still worried about Cloud. Just as much as I was. He had been a part of her life a lot longer than in mine. But my heart broke a little more each time he called her name and not mine.

Cloud finally stopped late in the afternoon of the third day of his treatment and an hour later the door opened.

I jumped off the couch when Vincent stepped out. "How is he?"

Vincent looked more haggard than I had ever seen him. He avoided eye contact with me and turned to Tifa. "He insists on seeing you."

Tifa looked surprised. "Me?" She stood up and followed Vincent into the room. They closed the door.

I quietly lowered myself back down on the couch and stared at my hands. Why was Cloud asking for Tifa? Didn't Vincent tell him I was here at the house? Maybe I was making more out of it than it seemed. I mean, Cloud and Tifa had grown up together. He had a crush on her when they were young. But it wasn't like that anymore. He loved me. He said so. He wouldn't take it back, would he?

After what seemed like sixteen hours, but had actually only been two, Vincent and Tifa came out of the room.

"Hope you worked all your magic, Vince," said Cid. He had joined Shera and I in the Family Room a little while ago.

"He's going to be all right…physically," replied Vincent.

I didn't like the way he said it, like there was something mentally wrong with Cloud. "What're you saying, Vincent?"

"He's obviously been through something traumatic and his subconscious is blocking it all out. That and the last few years."

Tifa had a troubled look on her face. "The last thing he remembers is the night before he left to join the SOLDIER academy in Midgar."

"But that was…" I did the math in my head. "…eleven years ago. So he thinks he's fifteen again?"

"Well, no, he knows he's not fifteen anymore. He just doesn't know what happened to him in the last eleven years. He keeps asking me about his mother. I don't know what to tell him."

It all made sense now. In his current state of mind, I didn't even exist. He didn't know anyone except Tifa. I didn't know what drove me to say what I did, but I couldn't stop myself. "So what am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to just walk away?" And my tears renewed. "I love him. I can't just turn off my feelings."

Vincent held up a hand. "No one's asking you to do that, Tessa. It's just going to take some time."

I nodded because I knew this wasn't about me. It was about Cloud. He needed our help to remember and now wasn't the time to act selfish.

"I meant to ask you before, Vincent," said Tifa. "You didn't find anything at the Shinra mansion when you went there the first time?"

"The Shinra mansion has a lot more hidden rooms than I thought. They must have known I was in Nibelheim because I didn't find any signs of anyone living in the mansion."

I had to ask. "What made you decide to go back?"

"I was going through some file cabinets at Shinra headquarters and thought about all the dust in the rooms. Then I realized the Shinra mansion lacked it, which meant either the place was cleaned on a regular basis or there was someone living there. Apparently it was the latter."

Cid put his hands on his hips. "So now what? How long before he's back on his feet?"

"Let him sleep for as long as he needs it. He'll get up when he's ready."

"I'll make sure he gets whatever he needs," volunteered Shera.

When Vincent started to walk away, I reached out to touch his arm. "Can I…can I see him?"

"He's asleep, but you can see him for a few minutes."

I tried not to make a sound as I walked into the room. Cloud was lying asleep in the twin-sized bed. He didn't look as haggard as when we first found him on the water tower. The bruises and gashes on his face were nearly invisible now. Vincent did a good job healing him, even though I still didn't understand how that healing materia worked.

I pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down to watch him sleep. He looked ten years younger, his hair not spiked as it usually was. It took everything in me to ignore the overwhelming desire to lay down and hold him. I wanted so badly to kiss him and touch him. But I knew he wouldn't welcome the attention.

Maybe if I could just hold his hand.

I reached for it and slipped mine around his. It felt warm…much warmer than normal.

Just then Cloud opened his eyes and saw me. He immediately realized I was holding his hand and quickly pulled it away. "Where's…where's Tifa?" he asked tensely.

It was like a knife in the heart. "She's…in the other room."

He relaxed a little and continued to stare at me as if he didn't trust me not to hurt him.

I waited to see some kind of recognition in his eyes, hoping he'd somehow remember that I loved him and he loved me. "Do you know who I am, Cloud?"

He slowly shook his head. "Are we friends?" he asked unsurely.

I tried to hold back my tears. "Yeah, we're friends." I got up from the chair. "I'll let you go back to sleep." I didn't want him to see me cry so I quickly walked to the door and left the room.

Suddenly feeling the need for fresh air, I rushed outside and gasped to breathe it in. It was over. Cloud didn't remember anything about us. I had little faith that he'd ever remember what we went through together. What if it took years for him to regain his memory? What if it never came?

But I couldn't just walk away. I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone before. I wanted to be with him, even if I knew he didn't love me back anymore. Vincent said it would take time. Well, I had all the time in the world.

* * *

_A/N – Some of you may be wondering why I jumped ahead three weeks. I decided to cut out what transpired with Professor Hojo for two reasons: 1) I want to keep it all a mystery for possible flashbacks and 2) I thought it might be a bit too gory. Afterall this is supposed to be a Romance. There's only a couple more chapters left in this story. Hope you all continue to stick with it til the end._


	19. All the Time in the World

_Author's Note – Hello out there. Here's the last chapter, just like I promised. Hope you enjoy it!_

**

* * *

**

Chapter 19 – All the Time in the World

Saturday, November 16

I thought I had all the time in the world, but deep down inside I realized I couldn't do anything to change what happened. Sixty-one days ago I vowed to stay at Cloud's side, thinking he'd soon regain his memory and recall our love for each other.

But it didn't happen and the insecurity began to rear it's ugly head.

What did happen was that Cloud was becoming closer to Tifa. He knew Tifa was with Reno, but it didn't seem to matter to him. He kept telling me she'd dump him soon enough.

Right before my very eyes, I saw him falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

What could I possibly do? He thought we were just friends and he confided in me more than I wanted. I barely tolerated the way he spoke of Tifa in such an amorous way. Little by little I felt myself dying inside.

I knew I couldn't stay. I couldn't watch the man I loved so much be so in love with another woman. It was too difficult.

"I heard you were leaving," said a familiar voice behind me.

I continued to fold my clothes, placing them in the suitcase on my bed. Even when Cloud came and sat at the edge of the bed, I didn't stop packing. "Yeah, that's right." I walked to the closet.

The day after Cloud had been brought to Cid and Shera's house for treatment, Shera invited me to stay and I took up residence in one of the spare bedrooms. Cloud occupied one of the other bedrooms. It had been Tifa's idea to keep him at the Highwinds' house instead of with her in the living quarters above the tavern. As soon as she discovered Cloud's sudden obsession with her, she feared he might try something he'd later regret. Truthfully, I didn't believe Cloud would ever hurt Tifa in any way, but she was determined to keep at a distance any temptation he might have.

"Why, Tess?" he asked.

Every time he said my name, a piece of my heart cracked off. I didn't think I had much left. "Well, I can't stay here forever, you know. Besides, I think I've outworn my welcome."

"What're you talking about? Cid and Shera love having you around."

I shrugged. He was right. The Highwinds were gracious hosts and there wasn't a single moment I felt unwelcome. "It doesn't matter. I need to go home, back to my family in Junon."

"So you're not gonna help me?"

I knew what he meant. He wanted me to help him win Tifa's heart. He had no idea he was slowly breaking mine in the process…and I couldn't tell him. Vincent warned me that if I said anything to Cloud, it could ruin the progress he was making.

Progress? I wanted to laugh. What progress? He wasn't remembering anything. All he ever talked about was Tifa. I happened to like Tifa, but he was practically forcing me to resent her.

"You'll do just fine on your own, Cloud," I replied a little too harshly as I pushed down on the growing mountain of clothes in my suitcase. Everything wasn't going to fit in just the one. I'd have to borrow another piece of luggage from Shera.

Cloud suddenly grabbed my arm. He was squeezing it so hard, I nearly yelped. "Please, Tess…don't go."

"Cloud…" I winced in pain.

He quickly released my arm and looked away. "Sorry. I guess I…I'm not good at handling…rejection."

I rubbed my sore arm and stared at him. "I'm not rejecting your need for my help, Cloud. I just have to go."

He frowned as he looked up at me. "I don't understand. What did I do?"

I sat down next to him on the side of the bed. "Why do you think you did something?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" he snorted without humor.

"No, I said I'm going back to Junon to be with my family."

"But you don't even like your family, Tess. You don't…"

I was about to interrupt his rant when I realized he couldn't possibly know that unless he remembered the events prior to my sister's wedding.

"…like anyone except your sister. You can't stand any of them." He paused all of a sudden and stared straight ahead. "And…your grandmother…" He frowned and swallowed hard, like he was seriously trying to reach for something in his head. "She's a really nice lady."

"You remember her?"

He blinked several times and turned to me. "Huh?"

"Do you remember her?"

"Remember who?"

"My grandmother."

He frowned. "Did I ever meet her?"

I got up with a sigh and walked toward the closet again, just to get away from him. My eyes were starting to burn. I didn't want to cry anymore. I had cried every day and night since we found Cloud in Nibelheim.

It was like this most of the time. He'd start to remember things and then suddenly forget again, giving me false hopes and bashing them all at the same time. It drove me crazy with frustration. But as frustrated as I was, I couldn't imagine what Cloud was going through. He had eleven years worth of lost memories.

After grabbing an armful of clothes on hangers from the closet, I walked back to my suitcase and haphazardly threw them inside.

"I can tell you don't wanna go, Tess."

"Yes I do."

"Then why're you crying?"

"I'm not crying." I said it even though I felt tears sliding down my cheeks.

Cloud stood up and pulled me around to face him. "Please stay."

Against my better judgment, I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He responded by putting his arms around my back. This was the first physical contact we'd had since the Gold Saucer over two months ago. I started sobbing, my face buried in his shoulder. I didn't want to let him go. It felt so good to be in his arms. But I was only torturing myself further.

When I finally regained some of my composure, I pulled away from him. "I have to go, Cloud. I can't stay."

"Because of me?"

I nodded, not caring anymore whether he knew or not. "Yes, because of you."

"What did I do, Tess? Please, tell me."

"You stopped loving me," I barely said in a whisper.

Cloud frowned again as we stared at each other. "We were more than friends?"

"Yes."

"Why…why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I shook my head. "I couldn't…"

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Cloud finally averted his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tess. I'm sorry for everything. I wish…" He turned toward the door. "I wish I could remember."

I watched him walk out and I suddenly felt extremely tired. Tired of crying, tired of pretending he didn't mean the world to me.

A few minutes went by before I heard Cloud's motorcycle start, followed by the screeching of tires and the loud roar of the engine before it finally faded.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I had said too much and now I couldn't take it back. What if Vincent was right? What if telling Cloud would do him more harm than good?

It didn't matter anymore. I was leaving.

* * *

Saturday, February 15

It was my birthday and, of course, mom had to throw a lavish party, inviting everyone I couldn't stand to be in the same room with. I still couldn't figure out why she did these things to me. She knew I especially hated my cousin Brenda. So why was the wench flittering around in our living room like a social butterfly who owned the place?

The only person I was happy to see was my other cousin, Tammy, who still lived in Edge. She came to Junon the day before and we spent most of the night talking in my room.

It took everything in me to bring up a subject I didn't think I'd ever be able to talk about again.

"_Do you see Cloud much?" I asked Tammy._

"_Yeah, actually I just saw him a couple days ago. He's doing really well."_

"_That's good."_

"_He's not with Tifa, if that's what you wanna ask."_

"_I wasn't going to ask."_

"_You're such a liar."_

"_Does he ever…"_

"_Ask about you?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_He asks all the time."_

"_Really?"_

"_He keeps asking me if he should call you."_

_I shrugged. "He hasn't called."_

"_I know. He's afraid to."_

"_Why?"_

"_He thinks you hate him."_

"_I don't hate him."_

"_I keep telling him that but he doesn't believe me. He says he broke your heart and he thinks that he'd only make it worse if he called."_

"_I wouldn't mind hearing from him."_

"_Well, then why don't you call him?"_

"_I can't."_

"_Why the hell not?"_

_I shrugged again. "I don't know. I just can't."_

"_You know, both of you are so damned stubborn it drives me crazy."_

"_I don't wanna rock his world anymore. He's in love with Tifa and that's the end of it."_

"_Was I speaking a different language? I said he's not with her."_

"_I know, but he still loves her."_

"_Fine, if you say so."_

"_Whatta you mean 'if I say so'?"_

"_Nothing. You just keep believing whatever you want."_

I sighed as I recalled the previous night's conversation with Tammy.

The person in question strolled out on the deck, sliding the glass door closed. "There you are. What're you doing out here by yourself?"

I gave her a knowing look.

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting how much you love your relatives and want to spend as much time with them as possible." She laughed and plopped herself down on the empty lounge chair beside me. "Brenda's making moves on your neighbor."

"Charlie?"

"Yup."

"I hope he gives her some incurable disease." It was a known fact around the neighborhood that good old Charlie liked to sleep around with anything that had breasts. He tried to throw me a hook, but I wouldn't bite.

"Since you refuse to speak to her, she asked me what happened to you and Cloud."

"What'd you tell her?" I curiously asked.

"I told her Cloud's out saving the world. Heroes don't have time for social events."

I snorted out a laugh, but my humor was short-lived and I shrugged indifferently. "Do you think he would have come if I had called and invited him?"

"Of course he would have come." She looked at her watch. "Hey, I got an idea. Let's go for a ride."

"Now?"

"Yeah, now. I'm sure you wouldn't mind getting the hell out of here for awhile."

"No, I wouldn't mind."

We got up and walked around the side of the house to the front.

A few minutes later we were tearing down the street in my hot rod. Sundown was about an hour away, so I thought it would be cool to go to the pier and watch it.

"No, don't go that way," Tammy demanded. "Turn right at that corner."

"Why? I wanna go to the pier."

She kept glancing at her watch, which was an oddity in itself. Tammy made up her own time rules and never went by her watch. "Come on, humor me, will ya?"

I exaggerated a sigh and turned right at the corner she pointed to. It was the one street that had about a dozen stoplights. And we came up to the first one as it turned red. "Great. Now we gotta wait for a half hour." I turned to Tammy and noticed her staring at the side mirror. "What in the world has gotten into you?"

Then a rumbling sound caught my attention. I turned to my left to look out the window and nearly had a heart attack.

It was Fenrir and straddled in the seat was Cloud, wearing his trademark goggles. He revved the engine, like he wanted to race. This brought back a vivid memory, the day we first met on the street in Edge. He gave me a crooked smile.

I turned to Tammy, who looked like she was about to burst. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Me?" She shook her head, denying it. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, so it's just a coincidence that we're out here and whatta you know, there's Cloud."

She shrugged innocently.

I turned back to Cloud and he removed his goggles, giving me a wink. Dear Gods, I was done for. What kind of game was he playing with me? Did he forget how much it killed me to leave Edge? How much it killed me to leave him?

The light turned green and our vehicles both shot forward. The traffic in Junon was much heavier than in Edge. Everyone owned some kind of vehicle. We were forced to weave in and out of traffic, sometimes swerving dangerously close at the last second.

After awhile Cloud backed off and fell in behind me. I didn't feel quite so victorious. He let me win. A few minutes later we both pulled into the Junon port and stopped our vehicles at the edge of the dock.

Cloud waited for me to get out of my car before he dismounted.

I still couldn't believe I was actually seeing him. He still looked the same…physically. It was only three months since I last saw him, so I couldn't imagine too much had changed.

"Hello, Tess," he said as he removed his black leather gloves.

I noticed he seemed a bit nervous. "Cloud, what're you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood and…" He was looking down at the ground. "I just…wanted to come and say hi." He pulled something out of his pocket. "And…happy birthday."

I reached for the small box resting on the palm of his hand. It was wrapped in shiny blue paper with a pretty blue bow on it.

"Before you open it though, I want you to hear me out."

I reluctantly lowered the box and gave him my undivided attention.

He really did look nervous as he took a deep breath. "After you left, I really started missing you. The more I missed you, the more I began remembering things."

I bit down on my lip to keep it from trembling and hopefully to keep me from bursting into tears. I was already anticipating the things he planned to say and my heart was bubbling with excitement. I just hoped he wasn't building me up for a huge fall.

"It wasn't until I sat down with Tifa last week that everything clicked. She mentioned some things and the memories just came flooding back. The time we spent together and…the time I was held captive by Hojo."

I noticed his eyes beginning to brim with tears. "It must have been very difficult for you to remember that."

He glanced away. "Yeah, that part was hard." When he turned back, he reached for my hand. "But even harder was remembering how much I hurt you through all of this."

I wanted to tell him that it didn't matter. I had been so selfish and wrapped up in my own self-pity that I forgot what he had gone through. "No, Cloud…"

"Shhh, let me finish."

I bit my lip again to keep quiet and felt a shiver as he reached up to touch my cheek.

"I fell in love with you so quickly and I know why. You treated me like a normal guy. To you I wasn't a hero or some sanctimonious prick with a secret past." His other hand came up to my face. "I'm sorry for hurting you over the last few months."

"It's not your fault, Cloud. I know you weren't yourself."

"Will you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. I still love you."

A small smile appeared on his face as he drew closer to me.

My heart skipped a beat as his lips touched mine in a soft kiss. I gripped the front of his shirt as our lips fused together. It felt so good I was ready to jump in the back seat of my car with him. Since Cloud wasn't showing any intention of stopping, I relaxed within the circle of his arms. If anything, we grew more and more hungry as the minutes ticked by.

Just then the sound of a car horn made both of us jump.

Cloud broke the kiss and slowly looked over his shoulder at the offender.

Tammy was hanging out of the window of my car. "Can we go back to the party now?"

I spoke before Cloud said something harsh. "You know, you have a bad habit of interrupting us whenever we're in the middle of…something."

"Come on, you guys have all the time in the world to do that shit. Let's go back to the party and get drunk. Besides, it's my duty to stop you before you end up dry humping each other on the ground."

"Just go," I waved her away. "Take my car. I'll ride back with Cloud."

Tammy started the engine. "You better not make any stops along the way. I'm not hanging at your birthday party without you. I'll be waiting." She maneuvered a three-point turn with my car and pulled away.

Cloud and I turned back to each other. "Go ahead and open it now."

That's right. The small gift box. I had been so physically drawn in by him that I forgot about his gift. I quickly pulled off the wrapping to reveal a ring box. My heart was pounding in my chest. Could it really be? I slowly flipped the top open. It was a diamond ring.

"So…I was kinda thinking we'd do things together. You know, hang out in our own place. Maybe grow a little clan."

I picked up my jaw from the ground and looked up at him. I wasn't going to cry…I wasn't going to cry…I wasn't going to cry…So what was I doing? I was crying. "Is this your way of proposing to me?"

He smiled. "Yeah, sorta."

I smiled back. "Yes, I would love to do all that with you."

Cloud took the ring and slipped it on my finger himself. "Looks good there." Then he reached up and wiped the tears from my face. "That's it. No more crying." He gave me a meaningful kiss and finally pulled me along behind him by my hand.

I waited for him to mount Fenrir before I mounted behind him. "So where're you taking me?"

"You don't want to go back to your party?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Hell no!"

"Okay. I know a place." He put on his goggles. "But then we gotta go back to your house. I don't want my future mother-in-law to grow horns and a bifurcated tail because I kidnapped you from your birthday party."

I wrapped my arms around his chest from behind and squeezed him tightly as he revved the engine and pulled away from the dock. I had forgotten how much I loved riding on the back of his bike with him. But even better was the anticipation of continuing where we left off in our relationship.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on him. I needed my fix. He was my addiction.

The End

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed this story. It'll probably be the last one I write that pairs Cloud with an original character. I'm really loving the CloudxTifa pairing and have read many stories out there. Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed and even those who read and didn't review. The number of hits per chapter says it all.

I've started my next project, which follows the game story…but it's not going to be exact. I'll be changing some dialogue or scenes and adding new ones. I said I wouldn't start posting it until I knew for sure I could commit myself to finish it. I'm almost there, just have to get over a certain hurdle about halfway through. So look for **_Whatever It Takes_** sometime in May. I got the idea for the title from a song of the same name by Lifehouse. Check it out, it's a great song.

Ta Ta for now.


End file.
